Meddling with Time: Weasley Edition
by Redfeatherquill5690
Summary: A scream. Pain. Numbness. Nothing. Fred wasn't sure what he expected when death took him but he did not expect to find himself standing in front of a simmering aging potion once again trying to enter his name in the Triwizard Tournament. Time-travel fic (Longer summary on my profile) slow-burn F/H.
1. Chapter 1: Waking up

Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter or any related materials. Thank you, JK Rowling for letting us play in your sandbox.

Summary: Fred had never felt such pain, had never heard such a scream. There was no time to contemplate what would be next for him so when he wakes up with George once again standing in front of him stirring an aging potion, confusion replaced the fear.

 _Explosion… Intense pain... Distant scream... numbness... nothing._

 _Falling darkness... Rush of air… Bright light…_

"Are you okay Fred?" George was standing in front of him stirring a simmering gray potion. The abandon classroom that would later become WWW headquarters at Hogwarts was filled with a shimmering mist coming from the cauldron. A book lay open on the desk before Fred, the pages outlining an aging potion.

The memory came flooding back to Fred. The aging potion was to get past the age line for the Goblet of Fire. This was one of Fred's favorite memories; the moment Fred truly believed that George and he would one day have the joke shop they dreamed about. Back then he believed one of them would get into the Tri-wizard tournament and win, getting them the money they needed to start. Even as Fred shaved off the beard that was their penance for trying to get past the age line, that fire inside him was not abated.

"I'm fine." Fred smiled at George relishing in the moment. This was a good memory, the memory he used when producing a patronus.

Fred's smile faded. He remembered what happened moments before. He had never felt such pain, nor the numbness as his body failed him. It was quick, not enough time to think what would happen to him after. Fred was always so focused on life that he never contemplated death.

"Are you sure?" George looked concerned. He could feel Fred's confusion and discontent. Despite what most people believed, Fred and George could not read each others mind. Finishing sentences and knowing what the other was going to do just came from spending too much time together and having very similar personalities. They did however have a unique sense of what the other was feeling. Fred's feelings were traveling along that bond. "Did we mess something up in the potion?" George asked interpreting Fred's feelings incorrectly for the first time in... ever.

"No." Fred looked down at the potion instructions in question not really seeing them. "I just lost where we were." He hoped his twin wouldn't catch the quick lie. George sighed, coming over and taking the book from Fred.

"Maybe you should just stick to charms." George laughed as he skimmed the instructions trying to find where they were in the process. Fred chuckled trying to shake the feelings that upset George in the first place. Fred knew he was doing a poor job though. One does not die and is suddenly okay with it after a small jibe from his brother. If anything it just made it more confusing.

"Do you think you can finish the potion on your own George? I have something I've got to do." Fred started inching toward the door. Their bond only worked when in close proximity. He needed time to think about what was going on and not have to explain it to George for the time being.

Fred felt the confusion and concern coming from George. "Sure..." George consulted the book in front of him. "It shouldn't take me too long but this will have to simmer overnight. Meet you back in the common room?" Fred nodded before moving quickly out of the room.

With George out of range Fred let out a large sigh and let his emotions wonder. He fully expected for this memory to fade and be sent to the next. The whole 'your life flashes before your eyes' thing... but perhaps that isn't what was happening. Was this perhaps Heaven? Hogwarts was probably the best place in the world and the building of WWW was Fred's greatest accomplishment. It all started with that aging potion. Fred frowned, he loved WWW but the thought of having to rebuild it again from scratch was not what Fred would call Heaven.

Perhaps he had some sort of unfinished business. Fred huffed in annoyance. He was 20 years old. Of course he had unfinished business. Not only was there a battle to be apart of but the war wasn't over yet. He had family to protect. And once the war was over they had to reopen WWW once again. Fred had other dreams as well; Fall in love, have a family of his own, figure out all the charms the Maurauders used to make the map. Perhaps even become an Anamagi, though transfiguration was never the twins strong suit.

Fred's frustration and confusion mounted. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. He was too young to die. George would have a hard time reopening and keeping up WWW on his own. Fred tried to think about what life would be like without George. A tear escaped, Fred quickly wiped it away. WWW would be no more, at least not the way they envisioned it to be.

But George was in the classroom Fred had just left. The memory wasn't fading. The world outside these walls wasn't at war and Fred was not dead. He didn't feel dead at least. Fred pinched himself. Yes, he was in fact alive, at least as far as he could perceive.

Fred's mind wondering, he did not notice where his feet were carrying him. When he saw the corridor outside the room of requirement his instincts were to run the other way. He even turned around but stopped before he could run. It was just a corridor and he was a Gryffindor. He turned back around and walked to the window that was blasted away in his memory. Looking to his right, his memory brought Percy battling Thickness to the forefront but no one was there. It was almost curfew and most students would no doubt be in there common rooms discussing who would put their names in the Goblet the next day.

Fred sat down on the ledge of the window looking out at the night sky. So this is where it ends. There were worst ways to die, Fred mused. At least it was quick and though he did not want to experience that pain again, the numbness that quickly followed was almost serene. The scream is what tortured Fred the most. He could not recall who it was, Percy perhaps. If so, it was a relief to know Percy did not befall the same fate but then the battle was not yet over. He preyed that Harry, Ron and Hermione were able to complete their task and finish this once and for all.

"Are you okay Fred?" Fred jumped at her voice. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice her approach. "Where is George?"

Fred was glad the corridor was dark. The last thing he wanted was for Granger to see his red eyes. "How do you know I'm not George?" Fred teased trying to sound like his usual self and failing miserably. Granger propped the books she was carrying, no doubt fresh from the library, on her hip.

"Because your trying to get me to think you are..." Granger was annoyed at the overused joke. "Either way the question is still the same? I have never seen either of you look so serious."

"Just thinking..." Fred couldn't keep up the facade. He looked back out the window.

"About?" Granger prompted taking another step closer.

"Death." Fred didn't see any reason to lie. Perhaps this was why he was here. To contemplate death before he succumbed to it. Granger was what his mind manifested to help him understand. She was pretty smart after all.

"Very uncharacteristic of you." Fred could hear the slight concern in her voice.

"Doesn't everyone contemplate life and death at some point?" Fred heard her approach the window and place the books next to him on the ledge.

"I suppose..." Granger sounded confused. "All that live must die, passing through nature to eternity."

"You do know that Shakespeare was a muggle hit by a very powerful confundus charm right?"

"Doesn't make his words any less beautiful." Granger said defensively.

"Which is why its one of the best pranks ever." Fred smirked at her. An awkward silence followed. Granger picked up her books deciding to let the twin contemplate death alone. "What do you think happens after you die Granger?"

Placing her books once more on the ledge, she studied the red head before her. "I've never been one for religion."

"So you don't believe in Heaven or Hell?" This surprised Fred, he thought all muggles believed in that nonsense… therefore all muggle-borns as well.

"I think the only judgment that is placed on you is here on earth. Which is why we must live our lives to the best of our abilities. And nobody's judgment is higher than your own."

"Is that why your so hard on yourself?" Fred studied the girl in front of him. "Constantly studying to better yourself and live your life to the best of your abilities." Granger bristled at the implications of her being a know-it-all.

"Sometimes." she replied honestly. The seriousness of the conversation seemed to demand it. "I like learning. Figuring out a puzzle that has alluded you for a long time is rewarding."

"Perhaps that is what death is..." Fred said looking back out the window. "A puzzle that keeps alluding us."

"That's rather too philosophical for you." Granger quirked her eyebrows up in amusement. "Are you channeling Dumbledore?" Fred was not amused. Granger looked more concerned.

"After death is nothing." Granger sat at the other end of the ledge Fred was on and continued back into her serious nature. "Once your brain is deprived of the oxygen it needs to function the thing that makes you... you cease to exist."

"That is a very logical way of putting it Granger." She shrugged. "That is what your brain tells you what death is. What does your heart tell you? Your soul?" Fred was beginning to wonder if Granger was his guide to death, perhaps he was hers. Granger looked hesitantly at Fred, chewing on her bottom lip. "I'm not going to make fun of you Hermione." Fred said using her first name intentionally.

"I have always liked the idea of reincarnation." Granger confessed. "The idea that your 'energy' is recycled back into something else or someone else fascinates me. To think that at one point you or a part of you could have been a great mind of the past or as exotic as a tall tree in the rainforest, cut down for consumerism." Granger's eyes lit up when she spoke. She clearly didn't just like the idea, she completely believed it. "It makes you really think about how you're connected to everything and everyone. Makes you want to make the world a better place so you may have a better next life, whatever that next life may be."

Fred was really starting to understand Granger a lot better. Her SPEW episode this year made so much more sense. Her indignation of being treated less then equal as a muggle-born witch was sure to spur those feeling even more.

"but even so..." Granger continued. "We have to live this life like it is our only and last. There are no take backs and you can't let yourself believe that you'll do better in the next life so this one doesn't matter. We don't truly know what is beyond." Granger stopped abruptly and blushed. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"It must be comforting to know exactly what you believe in." Fred said not sure if what Granger believed was true but who was he to contradict especially given his circumstances.

"When it comes our mortality," Granger got up from the ledge and collected her books. "There is only one question you need to ask yourself Fred."

"Which is?"

"Do you think you're a good person?" Granger let him contemplate the question for a few moments. "Curfew is in a few minutes. We should really get back to the tower."

"You go ahead." Fred said getting up from his spot as well. "There is something I have to do." Granger looked disapproving.

"You're going to lose Gryffindor house points." She stood her ground, her always tense shoulders straightening.

"Does that make me a bad person?" Fred asked Granger studying her reaction. She looked angered at her words being spun back to her but her shoulders relaxed a little.

"Just don't do anything stupid..." Granger smirked before turning around to start walking down the hall. "And don't get caught."

 _Granger wasn't as straight laced and strict as she wanted everyone to believe she was. She knew what was important in life and what wasn't_ , Fred thought as he watched her turn the corner. The smile she had left on his lips faded as he turned to his next task.

What he was about to do was stupid and he had very little doubt that he would eventually be caught. But if this was some form of reincarnation then Granger was right and he had to live this life as if it was his last...even if it wasn't his first.

He didn't meet anyone in the hall. Fred wish someone had caught him, he still wasn't sure this was such a good idea. Fred was comfortable with traveling around the school at night with no one around (usually with George at his side) but when he entered the hall a shiver went up Fred's spine. The blue glow from the Goblet filled the hall, the shadows bouncing around from the flames.

Fred walked up to the age line Dumbledore had constructed earlier that day. After failing the first time, Fred had studied age lines and learned that there were many different kinds. A temporary aging potion can trick some of them but the more advanced lines (which Dumbledore was sure to use) was a mental age line. If the person believed themselves to be below the age line's requirements they would not be able to cross. Mental lines could be tricked as well but only by the most developed minds or master occlumens… not underage students.

Fred took a deep breath... He was 20 years old, at least he was yesterday. He may be back into is 16 year old body but he had still experienced 20 years of life, and what a life that had been.

Fred stepped over the line... nothing happened. He waited a few more second expecting some delayed reaction but nothing. Fred found himself keeping back tears once again for reasons he didn't quite understand yet. He really had experienced 20 years of life and that meant that he really did die an hour or so ago. That really meant that the next 4 years had happened and were more then likely going to happen again. The thing Fred didn't know was whether he could change it.

Taking out the two pieces of paper Fred and George had anticipated using in the Goblet, Fred wondered what this action would do to his future. One thing he did know was that Cedric, whom Fred and George had always liked and were friends with, would live to see himself graduate Hogwarts at least. Fred just hoped he wasn't signing his own death sentence... literally.

Fred put the slip of paper with George's name back into his pocket. He would never risk George's life no matter how mad George would be for doing this without him. Fred then stepped toward the Goblet, the blue flames tickling his hand as he took one more moment to contemplate his actions. The Goblet flared orange when the slip of paper fell from his hand. No turning back now.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Please review! All forms of criticism are welcome... Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2: The New Champion

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. It is encouraging to know this story has some interest. Sorry it took so long for the next chapter but...life. Enough said. Hopefully the next one will not take as long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you JK Rowling for letting us play in your sandbox. FYI there are direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this chapter.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 **Chapter 2: The New Champion**

Fred woke the next morning to George and Lee's laughter. He had not returned to the tower until the early morning hours, instead walking around the castle with his thoughts. He spent at least an hour watching the flames of the Goblet contemplating what would happen if his name came out the next night.

"Wake up sleepy head!" George threw a pillow at Fred's head. Fred groaned before sitting up and throwing the pillow back. "We have to go check up on our potion."

"Are you guys really going to enter your names into the Goblet of Fire?" Lee asked gathering his things for the shower.

"If the potion turned out okay." Said George picking up the potion book they had been using the previous night. "I double checked everything. It should be good to go this morning."

"You mind letting me into your plans." Lee asked. "The more Gryffindors in, the more likely we'll have a Gryffindor champion."

"Sure!" George said. "There's plenty of potion for us all. After all we only need a drop or two. Isn't that right Fred?" Fred shrugged, yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. George frowned.

Fred had not slept well the night before. The few hours he was able to sleep were plagued with exploding walls and that torturous scream. Worry pulsed through the familiar bond. Fred sighed before looking up at his twin. George gave him an inquiring look that Fred chose to ignore. The worry changed to irritation. As soon as Lee left the room for the showers George turned to Fred who was now gathering his own shower supplies.

"Okay, what is going on with you Fred?" George asked bluntly.

"Nothing." Fred tried to sound casual. "Just nervous about today." The irritation turned to anger. Sighing in resignation, George picked up his own shower supplies.

"If you don't want to do this, we don't have to Fred." George said. "We can get the money another way."

"That's not it George." Fred had never lied to George before but how do you tell someone that you died and were resurrected into your past self.

"Then tell me what it is." George crossed his arms in front of him waiting for an explanation.

"I… I will, just not right now." Fred said knowing his guilt would reach George. George studied Fred for a few more seconds, huffing in annoyance when Fred would not meet his eyes then turned to leave.

"George!" Fred called. George stopped and looked back at his twin. "Just… whatever happens tonight… just go with it." A look of realization dawned on George's face confusing Fred.

"You're afraid I'm going to be jealous when your name comes out of that goblet." George smiled at Fred's shocked look. "I'm not Ron, Fred. We both know who the brains of this operation is. Just remember who made the age potion to get you into this tournament in the first place. We're a team and we'll come up with ways to get through these task just like everything else we do… together."

Of course… George thought the aging potion was going to work. They had both been so positive that it would work the first time. Apparently George was convince that between the two of them Fred would be the one picked even if both their name were entered. George had no clue that Fred had already entered his name and Fred wasn't going to tell him... unless his name really did come out. Cedric's name could still come out of the Goblet of Fire like first time round.

"First we have to get your name in." George patted Fred on the back reassuringly. Fred felt anything but. One part of him wanted his name to come out of that goblet so he could help Harry at the end and not have to worry about anyone dying (except himself of course, lets not forget about that). The other part of him didn't want to be anywhere near You-Know-Who's resurrection, after all what could he do to help.

Fred put his name in the goblet last night without really thinking it through. Even after hours of thinking about it, no viable plan came to mind. In truth, he needed George… Fred's creativeness was nothing near George's. At least he knew what the thee tasks ahead were. But first he had to figure out how to grow a beard to convince everyone he wasn't able to fool the age line. Easy enough, hair growing charms were a specialty of his. Now how to make it white…

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Fred followed George and Lee down to the entrance hall. George had carefully administered one drop each of the aging potion to the three of them. He and Lee were adamantly discussing what they would do with the winnings and what the tournament might consist of. Fred tried to be active in the conversation but his mind kept wondering to the task ahead. Perhaps he was over thinking this beard thing. Sometimes the most simple pranks were the funniest.

The entrance hall was packed, apparently everyone got up early this Saturday to watch as people put their names in the Goblet of Fire. Ron, Harry, and Granger were apart of the crowd. Fred remembered he was so excited the last time that he went right up to them to let them know their plan. This time he let George do the honors.

"Done it," George whispered to the three of them. "Just taken it."

"What?" said Ron.

"The aging potion." Fred said as if it was obvious. "How else do you get across an age line?"

"One drop each." George said rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know." Said Granger warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

George and Lee ignored her. Fred gave her a wink, she had just given him an idea.

"Go on then George." Fred said giving his brother a reassuring pat on the back. "You made the potion, you can have the honor of going first." George puffed out his chest proudly. "And if Granger is right, the honor of failing miserably."

"This was your idea Fred!" George deflated, looking at the line worryingly.

"And I am sure it will work." Fred said with fake confidence. George walked up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

Fred did not rush forward as George had done when nothing happened right away. Instead, he stepped behind George. If Fred was going to feed him to the wolves he would at least be there to soften his fall. And sure enough, not a moment later, there was a loud sizzling sound and George was hurled out of the golden circle right into Fred sending them both ten feet across the hall. After a loud popping sound George sprouted a long white beard.

"I did warn you." Dumbledore said exiting the Great Hall. He surveyed the twins, his eyes twinkling when he spotted George's beard. "I suggest you get your brother to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards are as magnificent as yours Mr. Weasley."

"Get your elbow out of my kidney George." Fred groaned still slightly out of breath from the impact of his brother and the floor. The things you do for family.

George quickly got off of Fred and helped him up. Lee was laughing so hard at George's beard Fred was surprised he hadn't collapsed on the ground himself. He wasn't the only one in the hall either, many students were chuckling behind hands. Ron and Harry the most noticeable. Granger just stood there with an 'I told you' smile before leading the boys into the Great Hall.

Fred, George and Lee headed to the hospital wing as Dumbledore suggested. Madam Pomfrey was quick to help them, handing a potion and razor to George as soon as they walked through the door. Fred spent the next twenty minutes avoiding Madam Pomfrey's ministrations and cheering up the upset bearded Miss Fawcett "No boy will kiss me now!".

After, with a beardless George in tow, Fred lead them back to the twin's potion room. They cleaned up the rest of the potion and joked about what other people would look like with beards. Even with the smiles and jokes Fred could feel the disappointment thumbing through the bond.

"Hey," Fred wrapped his arm around George's shoulder, taking him to the side as they made their way back to the common room. "We'll find another way. A beard isn't going to stop us." Fred smiled at George.

"I just thought for sure it was going to work." George said but Fred could already feel the disappointment leaving him. "We're just going to have to be more creative."

"Our specialty." Fred said before the two of them caught back up with Lee.

The rest of the day was spent how most teenage boys spend their weekends, flirting with girls (Alicia, Angelina, and Katie) and making fools of themselves. The talk was mostly about what tasks the champions may find themselves against with the occasional Snape/Crouch/Bagman impression. Not to mention the complaint about quidditch being canceled, after all, there little group consisted of five quidditch team members and the commentator.

Fred was unusually quiet through out the day, instead silently basking in the innocence of it all. It had been a long time since he had been able to get together with his closest friends and just have fun. He had not seen Katie in over a year, having lost contact with her before the ministry's downfall. Alicia had been a regular visitor to WWW, mostly due to Angelina being her best friend.

Angelina… things had been good, for a little while. They had taken their relationship to the next level after leaving Hogwarts. It had been fun but between the stress of opening WWW and the war things kind of fell apart. Fred did not deal with stress very well and Angelina had a temper. If it hadn't been for George Fred was sure that he and Angelina would no longer be friends. Perhaps he just wouldn't go down that path again, Fred thought as he enjoyed watching Angelina laugh at George's joke.

Much sooner then Fred would have liked it was time for dinner. As the group made there way down to the Great Hall Fred could not help but think how innocent the action seemed. All the students were in fact walking into the first actions of a war and no one knew it. Harry's name coming out of that goblet was the first move in an invisible chess game that all of them were about to take a part of. Fred smirked, if his name did in fact come out of that goblet tonight then perhaps the white pieces would at least have the advantage of the first move.

Fred was nervous though out the entire feast. George kept giving him curious glances which he ignored. Everyone at the table was hoping that one of the five Gryffindor seventh years or Angelina, the only sixth year to enter (so they thought), would get the chance to represent the school.

Fred was friends with many of the other contenders including Cedric Diggory who was getting the same treatment as Angelina at the Hufflepuff table. Comparing himself with these people was difficult. Tina and Edward, two Gryffindor seventh years, would later become Order members, both being killed by death eaters during the Year of Darkness (as Fred was starting to call it). Cedric never got the chance to thrive outside of Hogwarts, his potential snuffed out too early. But that was the key wasn't it...

Fred had three, almost four years more experience. The spells and curses he learned in the DA, and later as an Order member gave him an edge most of these students haven't thought about. Getting past dragons, searching through grindylow infested lakes, and traversing a curse and creature filled maze seemed like child's play... in a way it was since the teachers would never let one of there students get killed in this tournament. ('Fake Mad-Eye' exempt from that list of course). The more Fred thought about it the more he knew that his name was the name coming out of the Goblet of Fire.

The lights dimmed and the hall grew quiet. Excitement sizzled in the air. Fred acted like he was paying attention but he knew who's name came out first. When the flames turned red and Viktor Krum's name was called the cheers from all the schools was enormous, the Durmstrang students the loudest.

The hall quickly quieted down in anticipation for the next name. Having been on the wrong side of the next champion's wand, Fred knew most would underestimate the young French girl. His smile faded as the next set of cheers erupted, mostly from the boys of the hall.

Fred place his hand on his twins shoulder in front of him as the hall quieted down once more. Expecting some snide or quirky remark George leaned back to hear his twins voice, his eyes still glued to the blue flaming goblet.

"Remember what I told you this morning George." Fred whispered into his ear as the goblet glowed orange once more. "Just go with it, I'll explain everything tonight." Fred could feel George's confusion.

"And the Hogwarts champion is..." Dumbledore began to announce with a smile before unfolding the piece of paper. Seeing the name upon the singed slip his smile faded slightly replaced by a look of curiosity. After a couple moments he let out a slight chuckle before looking toward the Gryffindor table.

"Fred Weasley." The Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students politely started clapping but stopped when they noticed most of the Hogwarts students did not join in. They were all whispering to each other, some with frowns, others with joyous smiles at the 'prank' the twins had just pulled on the headmaster.

"You didn't really think an age line could stop us did you Professor?". George said barely missed a beat. Fred's smile became genuine. George turned to Fred giving him a high five as Fred got out of his seat. The Gryffindors soon started cheering, quickly followed by the rest of the students, Slytherins excluded.

Reaching the front of the room, Fred turned to the four tables and gave a deep, elaborate bow earning more cheers from the Gryffindors. Turning back toward the teachers he noticed most of them were frowning in disapproval, McGonagall the most prominent. Dumbledore still had a smile on his face. Fred knew that was about to change though so quickly left the hall.

Inside the chamber behind the teachers table Fleur and Krum had situated themselves in opposite corners of the room. When Fred entered each regarded their competition with searching eyes. When Fred gave Fleur a smile she rolled her eyes and flipped her hair in disregard going back to picking at the lint on the arm of the chair she was seated on. Krum sniffed then went back to examining his nails.

"Hi, I'm Fred Weasley. But you can call me Gred if you prefer..." Fred said not being able to stand the silent tension in the room. Fleur sighed before getting up extending her hand.

"Fleur Isabelle Delacour." She said quickly and in a very thick accent. Fred took her hand and bowed, pressing his lips to her knuckles.

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Delacour." Fred greeted making sure to pronounce her last name as Fleur herself had taught him. It was trickier than it sounded. She looked at least slightly less offended.

"Viktor Krum." The burly fellow joined their small party by the fireplace. He did not offer a hand in greeting.

"Pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Krum." Fred said politely. His mother taught him manners after all, he had the lump on his head to prove it. "I have to say, I was hoping to meet you in a different kind of competition."

"Are you a seeker as vell?" Krum asked seeming to be more comfortable with quidditch as a topic.

"Beater actually." Fred answered.

"Perhaps ve could get a… vhat do you call it… ah… scrimmage game together." Krum offered. "I miss being on a broom."

"I am sure I could get a few people's interest." Fred smiled. He was sure he could get at least half the school interested if he told them they would be playing against Viktor Krum. Perhaps something a little more private was called for.

Before any more conversation could take place the door behind Fred opened once more. Knowing who had walked through the door, Fred made sure to school his face into one of curiosity. Harry looked so lost and confused, like a little puppy who had just been kicked. Knowing that the little puppy before him would become a wolf capable of protecting any one of his pack members made it hard not to feel at least a little sympathetic.

"What are you doing here Harry?" Fred asked. Harry surveyed the three in front of him but before he could answer the door behind him opened once more. Ludo Bagman entered taking Harry by the arm and propelling him forward toward the other three.

"Extraordinary!" Bagman muttered. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentleman… lady. May I introduce – incredible though it may seem – the fourth Triwizard Champion."

Viktor's face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Fred genuinely looked concerned. Fleur tossed her hair, smiling, and said "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," Fleur said contemptuously to Bagman. "'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."

"It is my understanding that Mr. Weasley here is as well." said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. Fred shifted at the accusing looks Fleur and Viktor gave him. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as both their names came out of the goblet… I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage… It's down in the rules, you're obliged… Harry will just have to do the best he -"

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in. Professor Dumbledore, whom was no longer smiling, was followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape.

Fred took this opportunity to usher Harry next to him. He gave Harry a reassuring smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze. Harry took a deep breath and seemed a little calmer at least. Professor Dumbledore turned to the Gryffindors before any protest could be heard from the other school's administrators.

"Mr. Weasley, please tell me how you managed to get across the age line...and why you allowed Harry to enter his name?" Dumbledore's usual cheery deposition was gone. The sparkle prominent in his eye turned cold.

"Number one," Fred started. "A wizard never reveals his secrets. If you want to know how I got across the age line you will have to figure it out yourself." Protests erupted around the room but Fred continued raising his voice above it all. "Number two, I would never allow Harry to enter his name into the Goblet of Fire. My mother's wrath would be nothing compared to yours and Harry gets in enough trouble without the ministry placing it in his way. And number three, you and I both know there is no way I could bewitch that very powerful magical object into thinking there are four schools competing in a _tri-_ wizard tournament."

"The boy is sharp at least..." Professor Moody said from the door way. "It would have taken an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in this tournament… I'm guessing who ever put Potter's name in submitted it under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category..."

"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly. "and a very ingenious theory it is – though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously..."

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. Fred found it difficult not to turn an accusing eye at the fake professor. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff – as you ought to remember..."

"Alastor!" Dumbledore said warningly before turning is attention back to Harry. "Harry, did you enter your name into the Goblet of Fire?"

"No." Harry said.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" Dumbledore glanced at Fred. Fred, his hand still on Harry shoulder, felt Harry's back stiffen.

"No!" Harry said with more confidence. "I don't want to be in this tournament. Like Fred said, I get into enough trouble without anyone's help. Basilisks included." Harry sent a glare at Karkaroff.

"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. "Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line."

"It is possible, of course." Dumbledore said politely as he studied Fred once more.

"Mr Crouch… Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our – er- objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.

"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out – it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"

"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"An empty threat, Karkaroff. You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Crouch said. Convenient, eh?" Moody drove his point from earlier home.

"It seems to me," Dumbledore sighed. "that we have no choice but to accept this situation. Both Fred and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do..."

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -" "

My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it." Dumbledore waited but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either, Karkaroff looked livid. Bagman, however, looked rather excited.

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?" Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. Fred began to wonder how no one figured out he was under the imperious curse until the end of the year. He bet the real Moody would have been able to figure it out.

"The first task is designed to test your daring." Crouch told the four champions. "So we are not going to be telling you what it is." Fred contemplated yelling out "Dragons!" but he figured he shouldn't push his luck. "Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important..."

"Because entering your name into a tournament that has the habit of killing it's contestants doesn't show enough courage?" Fred couldn't help himself. McGonagall gave Fred a disapproving look from across the room. Crouch choose to ignore him.

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests." Mr Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"

"I think so," Dumbledore said looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight Barty?"

"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry. It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment… I've left young Weatherby in charge… very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told..."

"He's just trying to impress you." Fred said in defense of Percy. "And his name is Weasley." Crouch looked at Fred as if truly seeing him for the first time.

"Yes, Weasley." Crouch muttered. "That's what I said isn't it." An awkward silence followed.

"Professor Karkaroff – Madame Maxime – a nightcap?" asked Dumbledore breaking the silence but Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Karkaroff beckoned to Viktor, and they too exited, through the silence.

"Harry, Fred, I suggest you go up to bed." Dumbledore's smile finally returning. "I am sure the rest of Gryffindor are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

Harry glanced up at Fred. He did not look excited at the prospect of a party. Fred gave him another reassuring shoulder squeeze before leading them out of the chamber.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Hope you enjoyed! Constructive criticism encouraged! Please read and review! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3: The Path of Change

Read & Review please! I own nothing but the imagination bunnies roaming through my head. They are starting to take over though so you can have some if you want.

 **Chapter 3: The Path of Change**

"No one is going to believe I didn't put my name in." Harry stated as they began to climb the marble staircase leading to the seventh floor.

"I believe you." Fred said. "What possible reason would you have to enter in this tournament?" Harry remained silent. Fred wasn't sure how to reassure him since Fred remembered how the school treated him last time. Hopefully with Fred as the other champion the school will be more willing to accept them both.

"Why would anyone want to put my name in anyway?" Harry asked as they climbed the last bit of stairs. Fred gave Harry a worrying glace. "Someone is trying to get me killed, aren't they?" Harry sighed as the portrait hole came into view. George was leaned up against the wall outside the portrait. Seeing the two of them turn the corner he stood at attention, arms folded in front of him. Fred could not see his face but could feel his disgruntlement. Turning back to Harry, he stopped him from continuing down the corridor.

"It doesn't matter what plans this person had." Fred declared. "George and I are pretty good at disrupting other people's plans. And one thing I do know is they aren't expecting us."

"You heard Crouch." Harry said. "We aren't supposed to get any help."

"From teachers..." Fred clarified. "I'm sure between George and me, you and your friends we can come up with a solution to anything."

"I just wanted a normal year." Harry said, his anger and frustration at the situation showing.

"We're here to help Harry," Fred said, "and I won't leave your side during the tasks ahead either if I can help it."

"You don't even know what the first task is..." Harry said.

"We'll just prepare for what we can. If we have a big enough arsenal it doesn't matter what the task is." Harry looked skeptical. "You've done this kind of stuff before Harry. Those obstacles guarding the stone, facing that basilisk. You have the advantage."

"I didn't do those things on purpose." Harry defended. "I had to keep Voldemort from the stone and I had to save Ginny."

"Which is why George and I will always have your back." Fred said. "No matter what, just remember that." Harry sighed. "Feel a little better?"

"Not really." Harry said eying George and the entrance to the common room. "But it's good to know that I'm not alone. Thanks Fred." Fred and Harry walked the rest of the hall to the common room. George gave Harry a friendly pat on the back.

"Go on in Harry." George said. "Everyone is waiting to celebrate, Fred and I have some scheming to do." Harry did not look excited at the idea of celebrating but he gave the Fat Lady the password and entered the common room to a loud cheer which was quickly quieted when the portrait swung closed again.

"What the hell Fred?!" George was mad. "I have just spent the last hour with everyone asking how we got our names in when I have no idea."

"Look, I know you have a lot of questions and I promise there is a good explanation..."

"There better be..." George interrupted.

"But right now." Fred continued. "The common room is probably shredding Harry apart wanting to hear his story. We _need_ to have his back this year George. He didn't put his name in." George seem to calm down a little bit. He could clearly feel Fred's worry for Harry.

"Ron is going to be the biggest problem." George said. "He ripped my head off as soon as we got back to the common room. That boy has lungs that could rival Mum's." Fred went to enter the common room but George grabbed his elbow.

"You're telling me tonight." George said staring Fred down before letting go of his elbow.

"As soon as everyone goes to bed." Fred confirmed. "Balderdash."

The common room did not cheer when Fred entered. They were enamored by the two best friends screaming at each other in the middle of the room. It reminded Fred of the frequent lover's spats that seemed to happen at least once a month.

"I'm not stupid!" Ron yelled at Harry across the room.

"You're doing a really good impression of it." Harry snapped back.

Granger, who looked worried on the outskirts of the circle, was about to cut in, no doubt to defend Harry which would only make the situation worse. Fred interrupted before she could interfere.

"What is going on here?" Fred stepped in between the two rowing boys. "Ron, fireplace! Harry, upstairs!" Ron looked like he was going to argue but Fred gave him a look that made Ron falter and sulk into a chair by the fireplace. Harry gave Fred a grateful look and quickly made his way to the dormitory staircase, disappearing.

"So tell us Fred," Someone in the crowd asked. "How did you and Harry do it? George won't tell us a thing."

"And I will tell you exactly what I told the teachers when they asked." Fred quip-ed with a smile. "A wizard never reveals his secrets." There were a few chuckles around the room.

"Now before we start celebrating," Fred addressed the house in front of him, "There is something serious this house needs to discuss." The group shuffled nervously not used to a serious Weasley twin. Fred could even feel George's apprehension.

"Harry didn't put his name into the goblet." Fred announced. "Which means... that someone is trying to get him killed... again." Chatter erupted around the room.

"What makes you think someone is trying to kill him?" Edward, a seventh year asked above the noise. "Maybe they're trying to put him on a pedestal. He is Dumbledore's golden boy after all."

"Because in the last three years someone has always tried to kill Harry." Fred said. "And we, as a house, have done nothing."

"What do you expect us to do?" Angelina said. "We didn't know what was happening?"

"Support him." Fred said simply. "Watch his back. And let this whole school know that when you mess with a Gryffindor you mess with the whole den." A roar of approval circulated the room. "Now that we are all on the same page, where's the butterbeer?" Another roar of approval, louder than the first.

It took twenty minutes for everyone in the common room to congratulate Fred on the 'fantastic prank'. No less than sixteen people tried to get Fred to answer the ultimate question: 'How did he do it?'. Fred just smiled before walking away to the next excited well wisher.

"You do know that Mum is going to be completely pissed." Ginny said when she found her way through the crowd. She gave Fred a hug and whispered in his ear. "Just be safe." Fred squeezed her a little harder to reassure her he would without words before letting her go. She disappeared into the crowd.

Ron did not congratulate his brother. He continued to sulk in front of the fire, Granger across from him with a disapproving frown on her face. Fred huffed in annoyance at Ron's stubbornness and jealousy. The Christmas before Fred got sucked into the past Bill had told Fred and George about Ron coming to stay with him for a short time after leaving Harry and Hermione with whatever task they had to do. Fred wanted to give Ron a piece of his mind then... Now will have to do.

"Why don't you go get yourself a butterbeer Granger?" Granger looked like she wanted to argue but seeing the calculating looked on Fred's face, quickly left. Fred took her seat across from Ron. "You're a stubborn ass." Started Fred. "You know that, right." Ron didn't comment at first, just continued to stare down at his shoes.

"It's always him." Ron finally said clearly frustrated.

"And it will _always_ be him." Fred answered truthfully. Ron wrung his hands and huffed in annoyance. "Do you honestly want to be fighting basilisk, dark lords and have mass murders after you Ron?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Ron said annoyed. "I have always been in other people shadows, the youngest brother. Now I'm Harry Potter's friend or Hermione Granger's friend, the smartest witch of our age. I just want someone to recognize that I am someone too. I just want to be good at something."

"You are good at something Ron." Fred said exasperated. "You're good at being a Weasley. You stick by your friends no matter what is thrown at them, you fight for what is right, and you don't let anyone hurt your family, blood or otherwise." Ron looked lost. Fred took pity on him. Perhaps his past sixteen year old self would have hounded into him but knowing how much crap Ron would go through for his friends in the future made him realize that Ron just needed a guiding hand at the moment. That's what big brothers were for.

"Let me show you something." Fred said digging in his pocket. He took out the slip of paper with George's name on it and handed it to Ron. Ron read it and looked confused. "George has no idea how I put my name in the goblet. He wasn't there and I didn't put his name in because I didn't want him to be hurt, I was protecting family... but George is over there supporting me and even though he is completely pissed off at me right now, no one here is the wiser."

Fred got up from his spot. Ron still looked confused but thoughtful. "You're a Weasley Ron. Who cares if you're not in the history books, at least you know that you were there. Now go do what's right." Fred left Ron to think on that. Ron stayed by the fireplace for a few minutes before heading up to the dormitories.

Fred felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Granger behind him. "Thank you," she said, "I was not looking forward to being the go-between for those two this year. I just hope that Ron takes to heart what you said."

"You were listening?" Fred asked a little panicked. He did not want 'the smartest witch of the age' to know about his deception to George. She was too smart for her own good sometimes and may find out his secret.

"No," Granger said, "but I've yelled at Ron and Harry enough times to know that he looked well chastised." Fred laughed. An awkward silence fell between them not really knowing where else to take the conversation. Granger shook her head as if she were chastising herself. "Well I'm off to bed, I just wanted to say thank you." She said before going upstairs. Fred felt like he missed something in that conversation but he did not have the energy to figure out what. His mind wandered to his twin again.

George looked his jovial self, talking to Lee and Angelina. Deep down though Fred could feel his jumbled emotions. He was sure George could feel the same from Fred. Everything felt so wrong. He had never felt so disconnected from George.

It didn't take long for the party to settle down in the common room and yet it felt like hours to Fred. He dreaded it ending but just wanted to get the conversation with George over with. There were still a few stragglers when George finally looked at Fred across the room, impatience clear.

"Well, as much fun as I am having guys," Fred said to the small group left, "dear brother, are you ready for the next part of our plans?" George quickly got up to stand next to Fred.

"What are you two up to now?" Angelina asked. "Don't you think you've caused enough trouble for one night?"

"Never." Fred and George said at the same time before leaving the common room.

"Where to?" George asked once the door closed behind them.

"Follow me." Fred said and then led his twin to the Room of Requirement. George looked amazed at the door Fred revealed.

George took a deep breath but then stopped the question at the tip of his tongue. "I'm not even going to ask. I'm sure you will explain everything inside." The Room of Requirement looked very similar to the common room they just left, only two chairs were stationed in front of the cozy fire. Fred sat in one of them. George looked around the room curiously before standing, determined, by the other chair.

Fred studied George and recalled all the emotions he had felt through their bond over that past few hours. A part of George wanted to be angry at the betrayal of Fred putting his name in without him. Another was excited and hopeful because their dream of a joke shop was still in reach. But fear and worry mixed in, after all, this was a dangerous tournament and Fred could get hurt. Confusion was the most prominent though. George didn't understand why Fred would keep anything from him. Despite all these emotions George stood resolute, a frown fixed on his face, waiting patiently for Fred to explain.

Fred admired George, he was sure he would not be as put together as George in this situation. Fred did not deal with stress well. During opening the shop George always made sure Fred took some time to be the jokester inside. When Fred was being stubborn George would pull pranks on him to make sure the heart and soul stayed with WWW. After all, it was supposed to be fun too.

"Are you going to make me stand here all night?" George asked. Even he had limits on patience.

"It's not exactly easy to explain." Fred sighed staring at the fireplace. George moved next to the fireplace, his presence demanding attention. "I'm not sure you're going to believe me."

"You've never lied to me before." George said. "Then again you've never done something like this."

Fred continued to stare at the fire, delaying his answer.

"Fred..." George crossed his arms, the last of his patience gone. "Just tell me..."

"Yesterday we were 20 years old." Fred said staring George straight in the eye. "We were no longer Hogwarts students and this tournament happened over three years ago." Silence followed. Fred felt such relief at finally having told someone, specifically George.

George shifted his weight as he contemplated Fred's words, digesting the implications. He studied Fred, the doubt he felt crossed the bond. Fred sighed in resignation, how could he have expected George to believe him. He still wasn't sure himself this wasn't some trick from Death or perhaps a coma induced dream.

"So, you're saying that you're... what," George looked confused, "you're from the future?"

"Essentially... yeah." Fred said. George made it sound so cheesy; the punch line to a bad joke. No wonder he didn't believe him. "I don't expect you to believe me..."

"It's not that I don't believe you." George quickly said still studying Fred from the fireplace. "It's just... hard to believe."

Fred sighed in frustration. He had no way of proving what happened to him. "I don't know what to tell you George." Fred gave George a pleading look. "I just need you to believe me."

George looked down at his shoes much like Ron had done earlier that night, conflict clear in his expression. Finally he looked up, "You swear you're not pulling one on me?" George asked.

"I swear." Fred replied. "Unless someone is pulling one on me." George sighed out one more breath before nodding.

"No one can get one passed you Fred." George smirked, settling himself on the chair across from his twin. "Except me, of course." Complete trust shined in George's eyes... and a little bit of mischief. "So how are we going to use four years of knowledge to our benefit?" Fred laughed in relief.

"I have a few ideas." Fred said grateful for the trust George showed in him.

"First!" George said looking at Fred seriously. "The joke shop, please say it's not just a dream."

"It's better than." Fred confirmed. George whooped in joy. "It's our first priority... I take that back, it's our second. Getting Harry and me through this tournament in one piece is first."

"Surely you'll just do what you did last time." Fred let George think through that statement for a few seconds. "Except you weren't in it last time... Was Harry?"

"Yeah..." Fred answered. "That kid can never catch a break."

"Do you know who put his name in the Goblet?" George asked.

"Yeah. It was..." Fred stopped. Telling George about the imposter that was Mad-Eye Moody would lead to telling him about the return of You-Know-Who, which would lead to the war, which would lead to Fred's death. Not many people could tell but the war changed George. He wasn't as joyful and generous, worry constantly plaguing him. Fred was no better but he didn't want those feelings to overwhelm his twin so soon. Perhaps it was selfish but Fred needed George to be the George he remembered: young, innocent and ignorant.

"I'm not going to tell you." Fred said slowly. Everything was happening so fast and he never really had the time to contemplate what would happen if he told George everything.

"Why not?" Fred had to admire George. He said it with such curiosity that without the bond Fred would have no idea how hurt and angry he was at Fred keeping secrets once more.

"You would act differently toward them." Fred said thinking out each word before saying them, not wanting to give any clues as to who it was. "If they think someone knows the truth then they may act differently which could be dangerous." George looked confused.

"If you think this person is dangerous than don't you think we should stop them now so no harm will come to anyone?" George asked.

"It's complicated." Fred sighed knowing that 'Mad-Eye' was probably the only reason why Harry made it through the tournament the first time. George huffed in annoyance. "This isn't some joke George." Fred tried to explain. "These are people's lives we're talking about. One small change could kill someone."

"We're in school Fred." George said. "How dangerous could it be?"

"Besides possessed professors and giant basilisks roaming the halls?" Fred asked sarcastically. George chuckled.

"You have a point. You forgot about mass murders coming after our brother's best friend..." George chuckled once more. Fred did not... that about summed up the next four years perfectly. Feeling Fred's mood change George stopped laughing.

"What happens Fred?" That worry that was constant in the older George Fred remembered started edging its way through the bond. Fred got up off his chair and started pacing. What should he tell him?

"I'm not going to lie to you George, the next few years are..." Fred started but let his emotions finish. George frowned. "But there are a lot of good things too. The joke shop for one and we pull one of the best pranks Hogwarts has ever seen." George smirked but the worry was still there. "We get to meet the Maurauders... well, at least a couple of them." George's interest peaked. "Bill gets hitched to a sweet girl."

"No way! Bill!" George laughed, the worry dissipating. "Have we met her yet?"

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise." Fred teased glad to have the topic on better days.

"A hint at least..." George whined. Fred sat back down, having succeeded in distracting George from the war.

"Your hint is..." Fred thought for a moment. Anything to keep George off what Fred wasn't telling him. "She's currently at Hogwarts."

"A young one then..." George thought about it. "Do I at least get to know what house she's in..."

"Nope." Fred said instantly. "That would make it too easy."

"Well, we can eliminate all the Slytherins..." George calibrated. "And pretty much anyone younger than us. Wait... he doesn't marry one of the teachers does he... like McGonagall."

Fred kept as straight a face as he could trying to keep his emotions in check. He knew amusement had seeped through. George's smile slipped.

"Thanks Fred." George said soberly.

"For what?" Fred asked confused by the sudden change of mood.

"For trying to protect me." George said. "From the bad stuff." Fred stared down at his hands. His reasons were more selfish than anything else. "Just know that I'm here if you do need any help with changing anything. Or... if you just need to talk."

"Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time." Fred quoted the old saying.

"Bad things happen to those who mess with the Weasleys." George countered. "Now about that prank... the best Hogwarts has ever seen? I bet we could make it better." George was in competition mode.

"You do realize you are trying to out-due yourself." Fred smiled. He truly loved his twin. George looked scandalized.

"I am way better than some other George in some alternate time line." George's smile returned. "I've got you..."

The rest of the night was spent talking about future pranks, the joke shop and how they could improve upon them. Fred almost felt like those three years of war didn't exist.

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry it took so long... Life. Seriously though, if you want some of these imagination bunnies just ask.

Next chapter shouldn't take so long. It is almost done!... but I make no promises.


	4. Chapter 4: Conflict of Wands

A/N: Super long chapter for my super fans who had to wait a super long time for this update. No excuse except... oh something shiny... what was I talking about?

 **Chapter 4: Conflict of Wands**

"Sally Chapman." George said with extreme confidence, sitting down at the Gryffindor table.

"Who?" Fred asked.

"I don't know. I've run out of names. It sounded good." George said loading his plate up with bacon. "I've listed off everyone in seventh year, including the Slytherins. You haven't given me any indication who it is."

"I know I will regret asking this," Alicia said who was eating across the table. "What are you two talking about and who is Sally Chapman?"

"It better not be a first year!" Angelina said narrowing her eyes, suspecting the twins of trickery.

"The girl Fred thinks is going to marry our brother." George said. Fred face palmed himself, why did he tell George about Bill's nuptials last night. Alicia and Angelina looked down the table where the golden trio were having their own breakfast, the fight between Harry and Ron last night forgotten.

"I think Ron only has eyes for the new Beauxbaton's champion." Alicia said.

"Him, along with every other guy in this school." Angelina said with a frown.

"Not Ron," George said exasperated. "And certainly not that French bimbo who Fred is going to thrash in this tournament." Fred lost it... Unfortunately for Alicia and Angelina, he had just taken a large gulp of pumpkin juice beforehand.

"Merlin, Fred!" Both girls jumped from their seats disgusted. Fred was covering his mouth trying to hide his amusement, failing miserably. George had already toppled over his seat from laughing so hard.

"Yup, definitely regret it." Alicia muttered picking up her now ruined transfiguration essay she had been proof reading.

The commotion had gained the interest of the entire hall so it was no surprise that a teacher came by to quiet the chaos. Unfortunately the first teacher to come by was Snape. Fred sobered up immediately, glaring at the professor.

"Causing more mayhem I see." Snape sneered. "Twenty point from Gryffindor and clean up this mess." George got up from the floor and shrugged before vanishing the mess in front of them easily enough for a sixth year. Angelina and Alicia used cleansing charms on their robes and hair before sitting back down. Fred continued to glare at Snape's back as he made his way up to the head table taking his seat next to Dumbledore who seemed quite amused at the commotion moments before.

Fred was poked out of his glare by George's elbow. "What's up?" George asked. Angelina and Alicia were looking at Fred strangely as well. "It's just Snape. At least he's learned not to give us detentions anymore."

"I just hate that git." Fred said going back to his meal. George watched Fred thoughtfully, then glanced up at the head table, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He shook himself out of it. If Fred wanted to tell him, he would.

"He may be the biggest git there is but he still has the best stocked potions cupboard." George said piling some bacon and eggs onto some toast. "And I am getting low on supplies." George took a big bite of his sandwich as he got up from his seat. "Uf fo un fungun fun?" Angelina and Alicia looked even more disgusted then when they got pumpkin juice sprayed all over them.

Fred started making his own sandwich when the owl post came in. He really shouldn't have been surprised when the red, smoldering envelope flew onto his half made sandwich. Errol collapsed onto the table making another pumpkin juice mess. Fred sighed in resignation. George took another big bite of his sandwich but slowly inched toward the door, eyeing the envelope as if it was a snake ready to strike. Angelina and Alicia conjured some ear muffs, rather proficiently, and placed them on their ears. Fred opened the envelope.

"FREDRICK FABIAN WEASLEY! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING," Mrs Weasley's voice echoed around the hall, "THERE IS A VERY GOOD REASON WHY THE AGE RULE WAS IN PLACE. YOU COULD GET HURT, YOU COULD DIE."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Mum." Fred muttered under the screams.

"THE TWO OF YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR! DON'T YOU WALK AWAY GEORGE! I KNOW YOU WERE STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO HIM PUTTING YOUR NAME IN TOO!" Snickers could be heard around the hall. George was in fact just about to walk through the Great Hall doors hoping to get away from the familiar screams.

"AND TO GET HARRY INVOLVED IN THIS AS WELL! THAT BOY HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH!" Fred looked down the table apologetically at Harry. "YOU TWO ARE BAD INFLUENCES EGGING YOUR YOUNGER SIBLINGS AND THEIR FRIENDS TO BREAK RULES! ONE MORE LETTER FROM YOUR PROFESSORS AND I WILL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME, MAGICAL CONTRACT OR NOT! THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO RONALD!" Ron looked scandalized at being chastised in the letter meant for his brother. The letter burst into flames. The silence resonated through the hall as everyone waited for Fred to react to the howler.

"Not one of her better ones." George said munching on a piece of bacon that was trying to escape his sandwich. "I was expecting a rather long winded one. She must not be too mad."

Fred finished assembling his sandwich and got up from the bench. "To the dungeons?"

"Fo fa funguns." George said his mouth once again full of bacon and egg.  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Fred, will you pass me the beetles?" George asked concentrating on stirring the thick potion smoothly in front of him. After a minute with no indication that Fred heard him, George looked up. "Fred?"

Fred was staring down at the sheet of parchment he was writing potion instructions on, quill loose in his hand. George focused on Fred's emotions. Fred was trying to shield George from the worry and fear he was feeling. After turning off the flame under the cauldron George sat next to his brother. The potion would be ruined but he could always start over.

"Earth to Fred." George said waving a hand in front of Fred's unseeing eyes. Fred broke out of his stare turning slowly toward George.

"Sorry," Fred muttered, the quill in his hand moving once again, writing down potion ingredients, "I guess these last couple of days have tired me out."

George studied Fred. He looked tired but what worried George most was he didn't look like Fred. Worry lines creased his forehead, dark circles were forming under his eyes and his ever present smile was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you want to talk about it?" George asked. Fred put down the quill. After a few moments he asked a question.

"If you knew how to change the future, would you?" George instantly wanted to say yes. Instinctively it was the only answer but George knew that Fred wasn't looking for an easy answer. George wasn't stupid, he knew bad things were coming; that was life. He didn't understand how bad, but he could understand why Fred would want to change it.

"I'm not sure why I remember this." George said after thinking for a few moments. "We were around three years old, just before the war ended. We had been hellions to mum all day and she was on her last straw when dad came home from work. He came to our room to talk to us."

"I think you were on the floor but dad had me on his lap." George explained. "I don't think he was even talking to us. He was more trying to reassure himself." George paused trying to recall the old memory. "The words he spoke have all been jumbled around through the years but the point of the conversation was that sometimes we have to go through bad time to get to the good ones. The good ones wouldn't be as good without the bad ones. What happens to us, makes us who we are." George concluded.

"I could stop something really bad from happening." Fred said after thinking for a few moments. "But I'm not sure it would make much of a difference. It would just be delaying the inevitable."

"Fred, I can put two and two together." George said tired of skirting around the topic. "You-Know-Who showing his ugly face a few years ago, the Chamber of Secrets opening, prisoners escaping Azkaban. There's a war coming and our family is going to be right in the middle of it." Fred looked uncomfortable about where the conversation was going but did not deny George's claims.

"If there is no way to stop it," George started, "you shouldn't ask yourself if you should delay it… You should be asking yourself if we would be better prepared if you did." Fred seemed to contemplate those words for a few minutes. George was just starting to think their conversation was over when Fred spoke again.

"Do you think I should tell someone about what I know?" George wanted to scream 'You should tell me!' but a louder part of him didn't want to know.

"The more people who know, the less control you have over what changes." George stated. "How much control do you want?"

"None," Fred answered truthfully and a little frustrated. "I didn't ask for this."

"Then I guess you have to go back to the first question." George said knowing Fred wasn't satisfied with his answer. "Will it make them more prepared for what is to come? How will they benefit if you tell them?"

"They would probably just try to change everything." Fred said.

"And you're the only one who might be able to understand the consequences of doing that." George said. "I wish I could help you Fred, but in my opinion, the more people you tell, the more you tell them, the more will change. Only you know if that is a good thing or not." Fred put his head in his heads and sighed in frustration.

"I don't know what to do George!"

"Live." George said simply. Fred's head shot up and he looked at George, fear crossing the bond that George did not understand. "It's what we have always done. Make people laugh, give mum a heart attack, and follow our dream. Let the world figure itself out for now."

"I don't know if I _could_ live with myself if I did nothing." Fred said.

"No one expects you to change the world Fred." George said putting a comforting hand on his twin's shoulder. "Well, unless you count putting unscrupulous objects into the hands of all the juvenile pranksters of this world." Fred chuckled half-heartily.

"Enough serious talk." George said. "You don't have to figure this all out now. Concentrate on getting these potions written down so I can get the first batches made. We can test them on Ron if it will make you feel better."  
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Fred had always been a fan of transfiguration, which is why he decided to pass his OWL for it. George had decided to put his talents elsewhere but he still accompanied Fred to class. The tranfiguration classroom wast just a shortcut and a skip from the WWW classroom.

"Mr Weasley." Professor McGonagall said exiting her classroom and seeing the twins.

"Yes?" Fred and George answered together.

"Fred." Professor McGonagall said more specifically. The twins turned toward each other in silence before facing back to the professor.

"The one and only." George answered. "What can I do for you Professor." McGonagall looked at them suspiciously.

"You are to go down to the Potion classroom to retrieve Mr. Potter and then the both of you are to report to classroom four in the charms corridor."

"For what?" George asked knowing Fred would want more details.

"It is a ceremony called the Weighing of the Wands." McGonagall explained to George. "Each champion has their wand inspected to make sure it is in working order. Be warned Mr Weasley, I have been told that the press are here to interview each of the champions. Rita Skeeter is the journalist the Daily Prophet has sent." McGonagall did not look pleased.

"Not a big fan of this Skeeter woman?" Fred asked, surprised McGonagall would show anything less than respect for anyone, at least in front of her students. But not all that surprise that is was Rita Skeeter of all people given the experiences Fred and his family have had with her… or will have with her as the case may be.

"We all have our old school rivals Mr. Weasley." McGonagall admitted. "Be careful of her." She directed toward George. The twins looked at each other once again in silent conversation.

"Take good notes." Fred said handing his tranfiguration book to George before walking toward the dungeons. McGonagall sighed in exasperation.

"When are you two going to stop playing those jokes." She asked not truly mad at their theatrics.

"When people stop falling for them." George answered before going into the transfiguration classroom.

"George Weasley, you aren't even in this class." Professor McGonagall said retreating into the classroom as well.

Taking a few short cuts, it did not take long to reach the potions classroom. Knocking on the door, Fred took a deep breath. Fred had not done well on his potions OWL so was not able to take potions with George this year, whom had managed to get an O much to Snape's aghast. This did not however mean Fred forgot the fumed filled classroom. He was tempted to cast a bubble head charm but refrained.

"What is the meaning of this interruption Weasley?" Snape snarled as soon as Fred entered the classroom.

"I am collecting Harry for Champion duty, Sir." Fred said trying his best not to add a scathing remark. Fred searched the room for his query and spotted Harry through the fumes of the many botched 'antidote' poisons. He looked to be trying to make himself look as small as possible.

"Potter has another hour of potions left. He will come upstairs when class is over." Snape said.

"Direct orders form Professor McGonagall." Fred said nonchalant. "As scary as you try to be Professor, I'm scared of Professor McGonagall more." There were a few chuckles around the room.

"Very well, leave your things Potter." Snape snapped. "I want you back down here to test your antidote."

"I expect this will take much longer than an hour professor." Fred said not impressed with Snape's eagerness to poison his students. "You'll have to poison Harry another time."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your cheek Weasley." Snape said "Go, Potter!" Harry didn't need telling twice, already gathering his things and vanishing his half completed potion.

"Thanks for that." Harry said once he exited the classroom. "I'm pretty sure Snape planned on using me to test all those antidotes."

"Considering most of those 'antidotes' were likely to poison you more, your lucky not to be spending the night in the hospital wing." Fred said.

"You could tell that by just one glance around the classroom?" Harry asked.

"Despite what people may think, George and I are really good at potions. Antidotes are one of the many things that are useful when pranking someone." Harry gave him a questioning look. "When you prank someone payback is sure to come your way. Its useful to have a few antidotes around to trick them into thinking their prank didn't work. George and I have woken up with different colored hair or feathers all over more times than I care to count. It's really easy to pick out the prankster based off their disappointed face when we come down with nothing changed."

"I don't know anyone brave enough to prank you two." Harry said. Fred smirked.

"Then you haven't been looking hard enough." The Weasley pranking war between Ginny and the twins was infamous through the tower the last couple years. After the chamber incident Fred and George took it upon themselves to make sure their little sister smiled every day. They never expected Ginny to take it as a challenge to do the same. They even co-conspired together when Percy was getting a little too big headed last year.

"Ah, and here they are." Bagman said bounding forward as soon as they entered the classroom. "Champions number three and four. In you come, Harry, in you come... nothing to worry about, its just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -" Fred was now being completely ignored but stayed by Harry's side.

Viktor was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Fleur was standing next to the window looking quiet bored but seemed happy to see the new comers. She flipped her long hair catching the light. The paunchy man holding the camera was watching her out of the corner of his eye. Fred's protectiveness kicked in gear. He quickly had to remind himself Fleur wasn't a Weasley yet. He would just keep an eye on that man.

"Wand weighing?" Harry asked looking nervous.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

"Maybe not _that_ small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Harry.

Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jeweled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two inch nails, painted crimson.

"I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Harry. "The youngest champion you know... to add a bit of color?"

"Certainly!" cried Bagman. "That is - if Harry has no objections?" Skeeter looked like a snake ready to strike. Fred knew now why McGonagall didn't like her.

Fred stepped in front of Harry, his arms crossed. "Perhaps we should do all the interviews together." It may have been worded as a suggestion but the awkward silence that followed implied they got the warning. Bagman's cheery disposition seemed to slip a little, his hands twitching around as if looking for something to say to break the tension. Skeeter's sly smile slipped only for a second before looking around the room at all the champions, shooting daggers at Fred for just a second.

"I will, of course, be interviewing all the champions." Rita smiled. "I just figured Harry should be getting back to class after the photo shoot. After all, he has so much more to catch up on, being the youngest."

****A/N: I apologize for the accents.***

"Actually, 'aving ze interview togezer is a good idea" Fleur said her eyes narrowing curiously between Fred and Harry. "Its would be good to know ze ozer champions. Zis is ultimately about international cooperation and making friends." Viktor didn't seem happy at the prospect of an interview at all.

"Well, I can see I am out numbered here." Rita said taking it in stride. "Shall we take some seats..." She said gesturing toward the empty desks. The four champions, Bagman and Skeeter took seats at the open desks, the photographer shooting a couple pictures of the scene.

"Do any of you mind if I use a Quick Quotes Quill. It will allow me to speak normally to you in the interview." Rita asked. Fred was going to object...

"Only lazy reporters use Quick Quotes Quills." Viktor said still seeming rather moody about this interview. "Are you a lazy reporter?" Rita's smiled tightened but she got out what seemed to be a normal quill and began to write something on her notebook.

"So, what made all of you decide to enter the Tri-wizard Tournament?" Rita asked.

"For ze glory of course." Fleur answered before anyone else could. "Anyone can be ze top of zair class in Charms, Transfiguration, or Alchemy." she continued flipping her hair in disregard, clearly stating that she was the top student in all of those classes. "buz only one can 'ave Triwizard Champion on zair resume."

"You seem very confident you will win Ms Delacour..." Rita followed. "What makes you think you will win this tournament?"

"I would not 'ave entered if I did not zink I could win." Fleur said with the same confidence as before only this time with a little bite.

"What about you Mr. Krum? Don't you think this tournament is a little dangerous considering your quidditch career? What if you were to get hurt and not able to play next season?"

"I have every confidence the Ministries have put in every precaution to make sure none of us are severely injured in this tournament." Viktor said diplomatically. Rita waited to see if he was going to say more but Viktor just stared back clearly finished with his practiced response. Rita continued writing.

"Are you? The age precaution they put into effect has already been proven less than satisfactory..." Viktor continued to stare at Rita but didn't respond. This was not a part of his practiced answers.

"Rita, perhaps we shouldn't mention that in the article." Bagman whispered not too quietly to the writer. "After all, this is suppose to be an upbeat piece about international cooperation."

"Yes, yes, of course." Rita said stiffly, clearly not happy about being dictated how to write. "What of the Hogwarts champions? What made you decide you could enter this tournament?" Rita's eyes were fixed once again on Harry.

"I di..." Harry began.

"I did it for the prize money." Fred interrupted Harry. If he could get Harry through this interview without saying a word perhaps Rita will lay off him in future. Not likely, but he was still taking this 'knowing the future' stuff one day at a time.

"This past summer I made a bad bet with a very unscrupulous character on the quidditch final. He took every knut I had." Fred said looking straight at Bagman the entire time. Bagman squirmed in his seat.

"Vhat was the bet?" Krum asked happy to join a conversation with quidditch as the main topic.

"I bet you would catch the snitch but Bulgaria would still lose the game." Fred said. Krum looked a little sullen at the memory. "Sorry man, the Irish chasers were at the top of their game this year."

"I did vhat I had to do." Krum shrugged.

"Anyway, the man never made good on his bet and here I am, a poor man." Fred said enjoying the look on Bagman's face. "Have to make the money back somehow."

"My, my Mr. Weasley, aren't you the rule breaker." Rita said. "What is it that you plan to do with the winnings, _if_ you win? Perhaps help your parents feed all their children? How many are you now, twelve, thirteen?" Fred bristled a little at the implications but stared down Rita with slit eyes.

"There's eight of us." Fred said. Rita looked up curiously from her writing. She clearly knew that there were actually seven. "And if Harry or I win, I'm sure our family would want us to spend the money however we wish to." Rita's head snapped back to Harry. Harry was smiling at Fred for the implications that he was a part of the Weasley family.

"Is this true Harry? Did you enter this tournament for the money as well? Perhaps to help your adopted destitute _family_?" Harry smile turned to a frown.

"I don't need the money." Harry said. "And I don't need nor want the glory." Harry's head snapped to Fleur.

"Then why did you enter this tournament?" Rita asked.

"I didn't!" Harry said. Fred thought frantically trying to think of a way to bring the conversation off of Harry. He was saved when the door opened and Dumbledore walked into the room with the judges and Mr. Ollivander in tow.

"Dumbledore!" Rita got up and held out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore. "How are you? I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards Conference?"

"Enchantingly nasty." said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat." Rita didn't look remotely abashed.

"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street..."

"I would be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," Dumbledore said with a courteous bow and a smile, "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start."

"May I introduce Mr Ollivander?" Dumbledore said as everyone took their place at the judges table at the front of the classroom. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Fred watched as Mr Ollivander inspected Fleur's wand. Mr Ollivander was a curious fellow to Fred. He was the only one to this day that could consistently tell George and him apart. Considering they had only met just over a handful of times it was a strange feat.

"Orchideous!" Mr Ollivander muttered producing a bunch of flowers from the wand tip. "Very well, very well, its in fine working order." He handed the flowers and wand back to its owner. "Mr Weasley, you next."

Fred stepped forward handing Mr. Ollivander his wand. "Yes, if I recall we had a very hard time matching a wand with you. Your twin on the other hand was rather easy. Dogwood 14'' Unicorn hair. I imagine he has been having quite the trouble with his non-verbal work this year." Mr. Ollivander paused in his inspection of Fred's wand to quirk an eyebrow.

"Yes, actually." Fred said recalling their last charms class where George actually threw his wand across the classroom. "He's getting quite frustrated with it." Mr Ollivander smiled and nodded as if he was already expecting this answer.

"Tell your brother not to force it. He should practice with some of his favorite spells instead of the ones his teachers assign. The wand will eventually fall into habit." Mr. Ollivander continued to inspect the wand in front him. "As for your wand," Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wood. "Black Walnut, Dragon-heartstring. Very good for charms work, I imagine." Fred nodded. "Hmm, has it been giving you any issues?" Mr. Ollivander looked at Fred with the same expectant look when asked about George's wand.

"No," Fred answered. "In fact, I'm rather good at non-verbal spells. Been doing them for two years now."Mr. Ollivander continued to scrutinized Fred as if trying to determine if he was lying then continued to examine the wand.

"Hmm... Periculum!" A shower of red sparks emanated from the wand. Mr. Ollivander scrutinized Fred one last time before handing him his wand back. "It seems to be in good working order."

Fred got the distinct impression that Mr. Ollivander wasn't saying something. Fred examined his wand himself. It didn't look or feel any different then he remembered. Perhaps Mr. Ollivander was just trying to be his creepy, ominous self.

Krum's inspection left little to note. One of the birds Mr. Ollivander conjured did not leave out the window with the rest, instead it perched itself on one of the bookcases along the wall. Fred studied the conjuration and wondered how long it would last. The last time Fred tried that charm it only lasted a few hours.

Harry's wand seemed to be just as fascinating as Fred's to Mr. Ollivander if not more so. He did not announce what the wand was made of like he did the rest, nor did he ask any questions of Harry. Harry seemed rather nervous about the scrutiny his wand was receiving. He kept glancing between Skeeter and Mr. Ollivander. When Mr. Ollivander finally produced a fountain of wine and declared the wand in good condition, Harry quickly grabbed his wand and hid it away.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges table. "You may go back to your lessons now, or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end..." Fred let out a sigh of relief, Harry doing the same next to him. Fred was ready to call this a success when...

"Photos, Dumbledore, Photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions, what do you think Rita?"

"Er - yes lets do those first." Rita Skeeter said, whose eyes were upon Harry again. "And then perhaps some individual shots."

The photos took a long time. First, it was trying to figure out how to fit Madame Maxime into the photos given her large size. Then it was a fight between Rita and her photographer as if Fleur or Harry was up front. Fred was finding it particularly amusing when he would stand next to Bagman only to have him make some excuse to go to the other side of the room. It made for a rather disorganized affair.

During Fred's individual pictures Rita once again tried to corner Harry into an exclusive interview. Fred would be forever grateful to Fleur for intercepting Rita into a conversation that Fred believed only women were capable of doing. Harry was able to slip away and managed to stand next to the sullen Krum. Krum looked at Harry then eyed Skeeter before taking a step forward effectively shielding little Harry from Skeeter's beady eyes.

Thankfully Fred's was the last of the photographs and as soon as the photographer said he had all he needed Fred and Harry bolted out of the room before a single syllable of 'individual interviews' could be uttered.

"My suggestion to you Harry," Fred said as they made their way to the great hall, "is stay away from Rita Skeeter as much as possible."

"She's like a shark." Harry agreed looking behind them as if expecting her to be chasing them down. "The way she looks at me gives me the creeps." Harry shivered. "Do you know who she is?"

"Never heard of her before today." Fred lied. "But McGonagall specifically told me to watch out for her and I will take that at face value. Plus, if she is willing to insult Dumbledore in her articles and then point it out to Dumbledore's face in a room full of politicians then I can't imagine she is someone to mess around with."

"She could just be stupid." Harry said not believing his own words.

"Or very confident..." Fred countered as they reached the Great Hall. They took their seats next to Ron and George.

"Hermione not out of the hospital wing yet?" Harry asked Ron.

"No, I swear one of these days I am going to curse Malfoy's mouth shut." Ron said his temper rising. "And Snape's. By the way, we have detention tomorrow night in the dungeons."

"Ugh, I forgot about that." Harry said digging into dinner. "And I was going to work on my summoning charm."

Not having anything nice to say about Malfoy or Snape, Fred chose a safer and more alarming topic. "Your having trouble with your summoning charm?"

"Harry couldn't summon a feather to him if his life depended on it." Ron smirked at his best friend. Harry threw a bun at him disgruntled. Ron caught it and took a smug bite out of it. Fred was worried. He had no idea Harry had a hard time with summoning spells. Given that one spell was essential for the first task to summon a broom from the castle Fred assumed Harry was rather good at them.

"Perhaps Fred could help you with that Harry?" George said not sure why Fred was so worried about Harry not being able to do a summoning charm but presenting a solution. "He's the best in our year when it comes to charms."

"How can that be?" Ron said in disbelief. "Mum is always going on about what horrible grades you get."

"We're hardworking entrepreneurs Ron." Fred responded. "We don't have time for silly things like classwork and studies. That doesn't mean were not good at them though. I can definitely try to help Harry."

"Thanks Fred." Harry said. "I don't understand what I am doing wrong. Even Professor Flitwick doesn't seem to understand. He just suggested I practice more."

"You'll figure it out Harry." George reassured. "Your not the only one who gets blocked once in awhile. I can't seem to cast a non-verbal spell in any of my classes." George looked disgruntled down at his wand.

"Actually, Mr. Ollivander gave me some advice for you." Fred said. Harry and Fred told George and Ron everything about the wand weighing ceremony and Rita Skeeter. Fred gave the advice Mr. Ollivander had for George. George picked up his wand and looked around the hall, his eyes spotting an oblivious Ron who had gone back to eating his dinner.

George flicked his wand but didn't say a thing. Harry and Fred started chuckling into their plates. Ron started looking around for the amusement only seeing George with wand in hand, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"What did he do to me!" Ron yelled which only caused the rest of the table to looked at him with chuckles and amused grins. Ron grabbed one of the silver platters on the table dumping the baked potatoes that were on top of it.

"Change it back!" Ron yelled after seeing his hair green.

"I don't know Ron." Ginny said from a few spots down the table. "I think green is your color. Perhaps I should write mum and let her know you would like a matching sweater this year."

"George!" Ron whined. George sighed and flicked his wand once more without saying a word. Ron's hair remained green.

"Well darn." George said without any earnest. "It seems I need to practice more. Sorry Ron." Ron huffed in annoyance.

"Fred," Ron turned to the other twin. "If your so good at charms you should be able to change this back, no problem."

"I think I agree with Ginny, Ron." Fred said getting up from the table, George following suit. "Green really is your color."

"Why don't you just change it back yourself Ron?" Harry said as Fred and George walked away.

"You're no fun Harry." Ginny said when Ron finite incantatem his hair back to red.

"We should go check on our potions." George said once they exited the Great Hall. "Make sure that memory of yours is working properly. I'm still not convinced those Nosebleed Nougats are going to work."

"Trust me George." Fred said. "I could make that one in my sleep. We could barely keep it on the shelves."

"Mr. Weasley! Mr. Weasley!" Fred and George watched as Mr. Ollivander came down the stairs, quite spryly given his old age. "I am so glad I was able to catch you before I left. May I have a word with you in private?"

"I'll meet you at our spot." George shrugged before heading up the stairs. Fred and Mr. Ollivander headed to a secluded alcove just off the hall.

"Would you like somewhere to sit Mr. Ollivander?" Fred asked politely seeing the old man lean on his cane heavily.

"No, no Mr. Weasley, this shouldn't take long." Mr. Ollivander waived him off. "May I see your wand again?"

"Is there something wrong with it?" Fred asked worried, once again handing his wand over to Mr. Ollivander.

"Nothing wrong per say." Mr. Ollivander said closing his eyes. After a few moments he opened his eyes again and nodded. "As I expected. Mr. Weasley, I never got the chance to tell you the significance of your wand six years ago before your mother had to chase after one of your younger siblings." Fred looked at his wand confused. He never saw anything special about his wand.

"You see, no matter how hard I try, it is hard for people to understand that wands, much like people, have personalities, for lack of a better word." Mr. Ollivander explained. "It is the wand that chooses the wizard after all. For instance, Dogwood wands, like your brother's, tend to choose people that are loud and boisterous. They like excitement and fun and only choose wizards that have personalities that will allow them to do so. I had you try many dogwood wands in my shop but alas, it was this wand that called to you." Mr. Ollivander handed Fred's wand back to him.

"And what do walnut wands enjoy?" Fred asked amused at the thought of George's wand egging him on for mischief.

"Well, walnut wands are very common in the hand of inventors or innovators. They tend to do just about whatever you want them to do whether constituted or not. I have seen some amazing spell work done with a walnut wand. However, this is not a walnut wand Mr. Weasley, this is a _black_ walnut wand. They may look very similar but they are two very different types, much like you and your brother."

"Black Walnut wands are not very common. I find it very difficult to match these wands because they are very particular when picking wizards. In fact, I can bet that you will not find another black walnut wand in this school, at least not in another students hands. You see, black walnut wands seek those with good instincts and powerful insight. They will not bond with someone who does not know themselves or isn't true to oneself. As you can imagine I do not get many eleven year olds who know exactly who they are when entering my shop."

Fred studied the wand in his hand and smiled. He had always been very confident as to who he was. At eleven he didn't have the dream of owning his own joke shop yet but he knew that he would never sit behind a desk at the ministry or have some ordinary job he would one day become bored with. He was going to change the world and make everyone laugh while doing it.

"With this being said however," Mr Ollivander continued. "These wands are abnormally attuned to inner conflict." Fred frowned. This last week had been filled with nothing but inner conflict. "I see it is not just the wand that has sensed this."

"I don't understand." Fred said. "Are you saying that my wand will stop working for me?"

"Not stop working per say." Mr. Ollivander reassured. "but perhaps less powerful. More complex spells may be harder for you then they were before. I have known some black walnut wands to absolutely refuse to do certain spells that are against their owners true character."

"Rest assured Mr Weasley." Mr. Ollivander said. "I have no doubt that you will get past whatever this conflict is and find your true self once again and your wand will be the same as it ever was, perhaps even more powerful. The only reason I bring this up is because you are about to enter into a very dangerous and trying tournament. A tournament that may challenge who you are even more. It would not do well for your wand to suddenly not be able to perform the task you require of it."

"Do you think that is likely to happen?" Fred asked. He had not noticed any changes with his spell work.

"Only you can answer that Mr. Weasley." Mr. Ollivander said. "If you do happen to find yourself in need of a new wand, you know where to find me."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I really enjoyed writing this chapter! All the wand lore can be found on JK Rowlings site as well. Sorry their isn't any Fred/Hermione moments in this chapter but that is not really what this story is about any more even if it is what inspired it. It is still going to be a thing though but you'll have to be patient. Overnight love can end overnight. Relationships take time to build but last a lifetime.


	5. Chapter 5: Dragon Woes

A/N: Don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would get this published instead.

 _Dear Fred (and George)_

 _I'm not sure how you got past the age limit but not at all surprised the two of you figured it out. With this said however, what I am about to tell you could lose me my job so please use discretion._

 _Our reserve has been asked to supply the first challenge for the Triwizard tournament. They have specifically asked for mothering dragons. I can only imagine why, as I am no longer informed of any more details. I don't think they are expecting you to fight these dragons as that is a challenge, even for a team of trained wizards, and the reserve would not want any harm done to one of our breeding dragons. That is not to say this task will not be dangerous. Mother dragons, no matter the breed, are ferociously protective of their nests. We currently have only six mother dragons in four different breeds. Chinese Fireball, two Welsh Green, two Swedish Short-Snout, and a Hungarian Horntail. Study the breeds, each has its own weaknesses which_ _can be exploited if need be._

 _I will try and find out more information and pass it on but do not expect much. My team and I will be at the first task standing by to help in case anything were to go wrong but I don't think you will need it. Since I do not expect to be able to see you beforehand, I wish you luck now. Be safe little brother and try not to hurt the dragons._

 _Charlie_

 _P.S. The Weasley brothers owe Potter… Make sure he has plan._

"Dragons!" George exclaimed after he finished reading Charlie's letter out loud, which had just arrived. "The first task is dragons?!" Fred continued working on the Blaze Box not at all fazed by this news like George was. "But you knew this already." George concluded folding Charlie's letter back up. Fred glanced up for just a moment to let George know how obvious that statement was before going back to charming the box.

"What were you thinking Fred!" George said. "We could have found another way to get the money. You didn't have to risk your neck!" Fred clicked the box securely closed before standing to give George his full attention. The worry coming off of him was coming in large waves, so much so that it was starting to effect Fred's own emotions. Fred had to calm George down.

"I didn't do it for the money." Fred said.

"Then why?" George asked. Truthfully, Fred had done it in the spur of the moment. He did it because it felt like the right thing to do but he wasn't sure how to explain that to George.

"You know there is a war coming." Fred said. George nodded. "And you know our family is going to be right in the middle of it." George nodded again a big wave of worry bouncing into Fred. "But do you understand why?"

"Because its the right thing to do." George said. _Maybe he will understand,_ Fred thought.

"Yes," Fred answered. "But on a more personal level. Harry is a Weasley brother, Hermione our sister, and Ron, well, he's okay." George frowned at the joke during this serious conversation. "Those three are trouble magnets and are going to be right in the middle of everything. I entered this tournament so that we could be there too, so that we could help them."

"The war is years away Fred." George said. "Couldn't you have found a less dangerous way?" Fred didn't have the heart to tell George that the war was closer than he thought.

"They need to know that we have their back now." Fred explained. "They need to know that they can count on us through anything." George growled and got up to start pacing the WWW classroom. His worry was dissipating only to be replaced by frustration and anger.

"I know you're not telling me something Fred." George said exasperated. "What exactly is your plan? You obviously plan on changing the future… I can't help you if I don't know what you're doing."

"That's just it George." Fred said. " _I_ don't even know what I'm doing. I have no idea what the effects of me being here is. I don't have the knowledge to stop this war. All I do know is that one day Harry, Ron, and Hermione will. All we can do is try to give them an advantage."

"And being in this tournament correlates to that how exactly?" George asked trying to understand.

"Harry needs to trust me like he trust Ron and Hermione." Fred says. "So that one day when I tell him something, he'll believe me without question."

"That's rather manipulative." George commented. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I, George." Fred sighed deeply, memories of the future flashing through his mind. "But by the end of this war you and I will do a whole hell of a lot worse." George stared at Fred for a few moments trying not to think about what those things may be.

"I don't like that you can't tell me things." George said sitting back down next to Fred.

"Do you really want to know?" Fred asked deadpanned.

"Not unless you need me to know." George replied. After a few minutes of sitting in solemn silence George spoke again. "Do you at least have a plan for the dragon?"

"Nope."

The next day was Saturday. Fred and George wasted no time gathering Harry, Ron, and Hermione in an empty classroom, Ron and Hermione arguing with each other the entire way.

"I'm just saying Creevey had no right to talk to that reporter." Ron contended.

"It's not exactly secret knowledge that Harry and I are friends Ron." Hermione debated. "Colin didn't say anything wrong. That whole article was filled with half-truths and lies. I doubt he intended his quote to be used like that."

"The point is that he talked to her Hermione." Ron countered. "Not what he said."

Skeeter's article had appeared a couple days ago in the Daily Prophet. It was a special edition with a very large photo of each of the champions on the front page. While Harry wasn't the focus of the article like last time, Skeeter did dedicate a large portion of the special edition to Harry. The speculation of Harry's love life among the fictional writings.

Fleur's section focused around her educational prowess and vella heritage. Fred, having known the girl on a more personal level, found the cookie cutter words Skeeter used to describe her almost comical. The picture it painted left most people at Hogwarts thinking she was the bottom runner. Krum's page spoke mostly of his quidditch career and his appearance at the world cup but there was a small portion dedicated to the dueling competition he won two years ago. Fred had no idea Krum was one of the best duelers at Durmstrang but due to his performance last time through the tournament Fred didn't doubt it for a second.

While Fleur's and Krum's pages were based mostly on fact, if a little 'colorful', Fred's page was filled with half-truths and speculation. It seemed something Fred did made him a large target for Skeeter's cruel quill. While she was very careful not to point any direct fingers at Fred, anyone reading the article would have very little doubt that he was the reason the age rule had been broken and he was the reason there were four champions instead of three. Given the accurate record Skeeter used of rule breaking and hours of detention, people didn't have a hard time believing the lie. Fred especially enjoyed Skeeter's embellishment of his gambling tendencies resulting in a very long howler from his mother the next day. By the time the howler was finished she had succeeded in emptying the Great Hall of all students and teachers.

The classroom Fred and George led the three fourth years to was mostly used by OWL and NEWT students during review. Not wanting to be interrupted by any over-eager students (aka Ravenclaws) George locked the door behind them. Fred handed Harry the letter Charlie sent to him.

"I am so dead." Harry whispered after finishing the letter, face ashen.

"Well with an attitude like that..." George said frowning, pulling out the books he and Fred had gotten on dragons from the library first thing this morning.

"Like I told you on Halloween," Fred reassured, "we'll think of something."

"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked finally taking a moment out of her and Ron's argument to notice her friend's distress. Harry handed her the letter and she read it, Ron reading over her shoulder. Ron's reaction was much like Harry's but Fred noticed he tried to put on a brave face for his friend.

"Fred's right Harry." Hermione said as she burnt the letter with her wand, keeping Charlie's secret between the five of them. "We'll think of something."

Fred was once again amazed at the friendship between the three teenagers. Based on the admiration Fred felt from George, he was beginning to understand the devotion the three had for each other as well. George threw one of the books on dragons which Fred swiftly caught in the air before handing the book off to Hermione. The interaction was so smooth it was no wonder that most people thought Fred and George could read each others mind. Hermione quickly opened the book to the index searching for her first answers to the millions of questions swarming her head.

"We'll break this up into parts." Hermione said taking the lead and sitting at one of the desks. "Ron, you focus on the weaknesses and strengths of each of the breeds Charlie mentioned. Harry, you should focus on the known spells dragon specialists use on dragons. If we're lucky, you may have experience with one."

"Charlie said that he wasn't going to have to fight the dragon Hermione." Ron said still taking the book describing dragon breeds from George. "He most likely just has to get past it."

"Actually, they're more likely going to have to get something from the nest." Hermione reasoned. "It's the only logical reason they would want mothering dragons. Make sure to note egg size and nest size when researching the different dragons, Ron."

"You're going about this the wrong way Granger." Fred said making the girl pause in her writings in the notebook she had summoned out of her bag. "While knowing the weaknesses and strengths of the dragons are useful, you should be focusing on Harry's strengths and weaknesses."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked in a small voice, speaking for the first time since reading the letter.

"Have no idea." Fred said cheerfully. Harry looked more dejected. "But I guarantee you it will probably be some charm or another. It's what I'm best at."

"You don't think knowing everything about dragons would be helpful?" Hermione said heatedly, her feathers ruffled.

"Sure." Fred replied. "After all, knowing everything about your enemy is the first step to defeating him." Hermione smiled pointedly thinking that fact alone won her this argument and then went back to writing. "But..." Fred continue. "Harry isn't supposed to know what his enemy is. These trials are supposed to challenge the wizards competing and show off the skills they have perfected. The judges will be looking for the champions to show off their strengths. It's one of the main reasons why they only wanted wizard of age to compete. They are more likely to know their strengths and how to compensate for their weaknesses. Tell me Harry, what are you good at?"

"I don't know." Harry shrugged looking more defeated. "Defense… but I don't think a stunner is going to do much against a dragon."

"Probably not." George said skimming a paragraph in one of the books. "But defense does takes a lot of accuracy; moving targets and all… If you can focus a spell at a dragon's weakest point, its eye according to this book, you may be able to distract it or at least blind the creature." Harry looked at his wand not looking the lease bit confident he could do something like that.

"I'm sure you have other strengths we can exploit Harry." Fred said. This was the frustrating part about knowing the future. Fred knew how Harry was supposed to get past his dragon, unfortunately he didn't know how Harry came up with the plan in the first place. Fred was pretty sure none of the books they were searching through would have the reckless plan of flying around the dragon to get it to leave its nest as a good tactic. "But until we can figure out what those strengths are, we should start practicing spells that could come in use. If nothing else they may come in handy for the other two trials."

"Don't you think we should focus on the task at hand?" Hermione said.

"Harry needs to practice some advanced spells and prefect the ones he does know. Until we can come up with a strategy I am sure you could come up with a few spells that may come in handy against dragons." Fred challenged her. Hermione stared him down for a few moments before relenting.

"Aquamenti." Hermione suggested. "In case either one of you gets caught on fire."

"You could use your invisibility cloak Harry." Ron suggested. "If the dragon can't see you it can't catch you."

"I'm not sure invisibility cloaks work on dragons." Hermione commented looking through the index again to see if she was correct.

"Plus, I'm not sure I want the entire school to know I have an invisibility cloak." Harry said. "And I definitely don't want it to catch on fire."

"But there are disillusionment charms." Fred suggested. "It's a seventh year charm but with a little practice you may be able to pull it off." Hermione sighed relenting to Fred's logic. She got out another piece of parchment and started writing out useful spells they should work on. "We should also work on that summoning spell Harry. A good general rule is when you don't have what you need, have a way of getting it."

After a couple hours of brainstorming, researching, and spell casting the five of them decided to take a break for lunch and for Hermione to get some books from the library she thought would be useful. As the Golden Trio left the twins hung back a little.

"Why don't you just tell Harry what he did last time?" George asked in a whisper only Fred could hear. Fred thought for a moment.

"Because Harry needs the confidence that his plan will work." Fred explained. "If it's his plan then he'll have more confidence in it."

"Well, he obviously hasn't figured it out yet." George said. "How are you going to get him to figure it out?"

"No idea." Fred replied.

"And have _you_ figured it out yet?" George asked.

"Nope."

A week passed and Harry had still not figured out how to get past his dragon. Fred hadn't either… He had ideas of course, but none he was confident would succeed. George's constant asking was starting to get to Fred's nerves. So much so that Fred had left George to his potion making to wander the school on his own. Just after lunch George found him once again in the room of requirement corridor looking over the lawns of Hogwarts, the quidditch pitch in the distance.

"We going to join our lovely brother and his friends for another study session this weekend." George asked leaning against the window alcove Fred was sitting in.

"Actually, I had a better idea." Fred said smirking at his twin. "You up for a game of quidditch?"

"Is that a trick question?" George laughed. "Shall I go get the girls?"

"And I'll go get Harry." Fred said nodding. "You think Ron's good enough to fill in for keeper?"

George gave him a questioning look. He was expecting a three on three match with the girls and Lee. "Exactly who will we be playing?" Fred just smirked again.

A half hour later the entire Gryffindor quidditch team (plus Ron) marched into the Great Hall in game uniform, brooms over their shoulders. Fred led the team over to the Slytherin table where a group of Durmstrang students sat, Krum among them.

"You still up for that quidditch match?" Fred challenged the professional seeker. A silence fell the hall as everyone waited for an answer.

"Alvays." Krum answered with a genuine smile. "Give me an hour." The Gryffindor quidditch team left the hall in an uproar of whispering students. Fred had no doubt that in an hour the entire school would be out in the quidditch stands.

"I can't believe you just did that!" Angelina said. "He's a professional quidditch player Fred!"

"The rest of his team isn't though." Fred stated as they walked to the quidditch pitch. "It's just a friendly match Angi."

"That the whole school will be watching." Alicia pointed out though she looked rather excited about the game, practically skipping down the path.

"How is Harry supposed to compete with that?" Angelina challenged. "We all saw Krum at the world cup, no offense Harry." Harry shook his head not taking any but looking rather green at the prospect of going up against a world renowned seeker.

"Harry is one of the best seekers Hogwarts has seen in years!" Fred countered. "Plus I don't think anyone here will think any less of Harry if _Viktor Krum_ were to beat him. Just don't end up like the Irish seeker Harry." Harry looked a little greener with the reminder. Alicia and Katie gave Fred a dirty look.

"And what about a keeper?" Angelina said.

"Ron's been practicing all summer to take over Wood's spot." Fred said. "We can consider this his try outs for next year." It was Ron's turn to look a little green.

"No pressure or anything." George said ruffling Ron's hair as he past him. Angelina glared at Fred for a few moments before huffing in annoyance.

"It's not like we can back out now." Angelina said as they reached the locker rooms. Fred knew secretly she was just as excited as the rest of them.

It wasn't only Angelina who had reservations about the match. Not twenty minutes after they had reached the locker room McGonagall came storming onto the quidditch pitch as the team was warming up.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall yelled up at the flying team members.

"What could you ever mean Professor?" George said swinging his bat experimentally.

"It's just a friendly back yard match." Fred responded innocently. "Surely there isn't anything against the rules about a friendly quidditch match."

"Does this look like a friendly quidditch match to you?" McGonagall motioned to the stands. Just like Fred had predicted the stands were slowly filling up with students and even a couple teachers.

"You should be happy Professor." Fred said. "Apparently everyone has their weekend homework done and have nothing better to do than sit in the stand to watch a few people play quidditch." McGonagall took a long breath to calm herself before speaking again. She did this a lot when speaking to the twins.

"I should give you all detention." McGonagall said teeth tight. "But as Mr. Weasley has pointed out, this isn't against the rules." The team members all smiled at each other. "But if I see one of you cheat or make an untoward move I will have you all in detention for a month and none of you will be going to Hogsmeade next weekend. You are all representing this school and I expect all of you to act with dignity and decorum. Do I make myself clear?" McGonagall made sure her voice carried all the way to the quidditch posts where Angelina was giving Ron a few pointers. Everyone nodded.

"Ms. Johnson, you will be captain." McGonagall ordered. "Madame Hooch will referee the match." She stared each one down, making sure to make eye contact with each player. "Do Gryffindor proud." She smiled slyly before going to find herself a seat in the teachers' box where Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra were already sitting.

A few minutes later the Durmstrang team made their way onto the pitch, Krum in the lead with seven other players behind him. Angelina looked at Fred confused before meeting the other team in the middle of the pitch.

"This is Kolev." Krum introduced one of the players with no other welcoming. "He is one of Durmstrang's seekers. If you wish, I will play a position of your choosing." The rest of the Gryffindor team had followed Fred and Angelina to the middle of the pitch. The two of them now looked up at Harry who looked much more comfortable now that he was on his Firebolt.

"You should play the position you want to play." Harry shrugged.

"It vould not be fair." Krum said not looking pleased.

"Harry is a good seeker." Fred said confident Harry would be able to out fly Krum given a chance. "He may surprise you." Krum did not seem happy, looking around the stands at all the students entering the pitch. It was clear he wanted a fair game but it would not do well for him to lose face if he were to lose to the Gryffindor seeker. Angelina came up with a compromise.

"You have two seekers ready to play." Angelina pointed out. "I'm sure we can come up with another seeker. Two seekers on each team, two snitches worth seventy points each. Penalties against or caused by seekers are double. I don't want you sandwiching my seeker into a pancake." The two Durmstrang seekers looked at each other and nodded.

"Fair." Krum said. "But if both snitches are not caught within two hours of match start, the game is called."

"No need to let this scrimmage game go past dinner." Angelina agreed shaking Krum's hand in agreement.

"So who should we pick to be our other seeker?" Angelina asked the Gryffindor team once back on their side of the pitch.

"Well, there are three other team seekers in this school." Katie suggested. "I imagine any one of them would love the chance to be in this game."

"If you pick Malfoy," Harry grumbled, "you can count me and Ron out." Ron was nodding beside him.

"I don't fancy a month of detention with McGonagall and I have plans for Hogsmeade next weekend so I wouldn't even consider it." Angelina said. "That leaves Chang or Diggory. What do you think Harry? You've played against both of them."

"Diggory is the only one who has caught the snitch before me." Harry started. "But Cho is good too..." Ron sniggered next to Harry who was blushing a little.

"I say we ask Diggory first." Alicia said leaning on her broom. "He was captain of the Hufflepuffs last year and quite frankly, I don't particularly like Chang."

"Diggory it is then." Angelina concluded.

"He's over in the Hufflepuff stands." George said shielding his eyes to the sun looking at said stand. "I'll go ask if he would like to join our merry band of renegades." George took off flying in the direction of the Hufflepuff stand.

"Welcome everyone to this spur of the moment quidditch match between Durmstrang and Hogwarts. We are sure to have an exciting game today as the reigning quidditch champions of Hogwarts, Gryffindor, take on the finest of Durmstrang's quidditch players which includes Viktor Krum from the professional Bulgarian quidditch team." Lee announced as the stand started filling up. "First, we should state that this is a backyard game with some house rules to keep in mind. There will be two seekers and two snitches each worth seventy point each. Penalties against or caused by seekers will be doubled. This game will be timed. If both snitches are not caught with in two hours of start time the game will be called. Madame Hooch, our referee for this match, will have a time out called with thirty minutes left."

"Since I am not going to even try to pronounce the Durmstrang player's names I wish you all luck." Lee said. "As for our Hogwarts team, anyone who doesn't know the Gryffindor team should just go back inside and do their homework. Six of the seven players from the championship team last year will be playing. Wood, Gryffindor's keeper from last year, will be replaced by Ron Weasley. As for the second seeker on Hogwarts side, the Gryffindor's have decided to look outside their house. Joining them will be Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff quidditch captain last year. Many of you will recall that Diggory is the only player to beat Gryffindor's seeker, Harry Potter, to the snitch in his three year career. It looks that Madame Hooch is ready to begin the game."

Seventeen brooms rose into the air. Madame Hooch in the middle. Angelina and Krum shook hands once again and then flew to their starting positions. The whistle blew and the players converged on each other, Durmstrang taking the quaffle first. For the first hour and a half the match was exciting. While Ron wasn't quite up to par on his keeping abilities, he was able to block most shots and the chasers on the Durmstrang team seemed to be more talented in defensive strategy. After all, as long as you can keep the other team from scoring there should be no problem winning with a star seeker like Krum.

But they had never gone up against the Gryffindor chasers before. After having played together for three years Angelina, Katie, and Alicia were a fine tuned machine. They knew that Angelina tended to throw her quaffle harder so it was imperative that you get in front of the throw to catch it. They also knew that Alicia was the best at maneuvering through holes in defensive teams. Katie was the most accurate thrower but her arm was weaker so she had to get closer to the posts. It only took a short time for them to figure out how to break the Durmstrang's plays. The only problem was that Durmstrang's keeper was really, really good; professional good. It made for a pretty even match. While the game was exciting to watch everyone kept a close eye on the four circling players overhead, hoping one of them would spot a glint of gold.

An hour and a half into the game Madame Hooch blew her whistle and all the players landed on their side of the pitch. The score was 120 to 80 in favor of Hogwarts.

"What is going on up their guys?" Angelina asked as Harry and Cedric landed, last to join the huddle.

"Are you sure they released the snitches?" Cedric asked. "I haven't seen even a glint in the corner of my eye."

"Me either." Harry confirmed.

"I saw both the snitches circling the bottom of the Durmstrang posts about twenty minutes ago." George said. "I turned to signal you guys but when I looked back they were gone."

"I caught the signal," Harry said. "I watched that part of the pitch for a couple minutes but nothing."

"It doesn't matter." Angelina said getting into captain mode. "We have thirty minutes left of the game. Alicia, Katie and I are exhausted. They may not know how to throw to each other but they know how to put up a shield. We're in the lead so let start playing smart. Keep the ball as much as possible, run down the clock. If you get a shot, take it but only if you need to. Ron, your doing great," Angelina praised. "but right now I need your all. Keep them from scoring as much as possible until the timer runs out."

"So business as usual." Ron said smartly.

"Yup, he'll fit in perfectly next year." Katie smiled still panting slightly from the last play where she out maneuvered a bludger until Fred hit it back toward George who had a better shot at the Durmstrang chaser with the quaffle. Angelina ignored the two comments and turned toward the two seekers.

"If the snitches decide to come out and play do your best to catch them." Angelina said. Harry and Cedric rolled their eyes at the obvious statement. "But if you don't have a chance, just make sure that Krum and Kolev don't get their hands on one. Remember there are two snitches out there."

"We'll follow Krum and Kolev's lead." Cedric interrupted. "If both go after the snitch, we both go after the snitch. If only one goes for the snitch, the closest of us will try to intercept while the other keeps an eye on the other seeker and snitch." Madame Hooch blew her whistle signally the end of the time out.

"For Hogwarts." Fred war-cried as he flew to his starting position.

"For Hogwarts." George war-cried back following him.

The next twenty minutes were intense. Turns out the Durmstrang chasers were holding back some or perhaps whatever was said in their huddle put a fire under their arse. Angelina's plan of holding the ball as much as possible only lasted for the first five minutes until the Durmstrang beaters figured out what they were doing. They double teamed on the chaser holding the quaffle and it was all Fred and George could do to keep their chasers on their brooms. Ron did a really good job of blocking the Durmstrang's shots but when the score reached 140 to 130 in favor of Durmstrang with only five minutes left the Gryffindor's started to sweat a little. That's when the real game started.

Kolev was the first to spot the snitch over by the Hufflepuff stands. He dived instantly with Harry right after his heels as he was the closest to Kolev. Krum was close to follow, Cedric right on his tail. Harry was slammed into Kolev as Krum joined the chase.

"And with just one minute left in the game, Krum is in the lead by a hands width. Come on Harry! Go! Go! Go!" Lee announced to the crowd which was now on it feet in anticipation. "Where's Diggory?!"

Harry flattened himself on his broom to try and get just one more inch of speed out of his Firebolt and one more inch he got which was just enough to slam Krum again who was just about to close his fingers around the snitch. The force knocked Krum enough to where he had to regain his control with both hands. Kolev slammed into Harry making him lose his momentum, leaving Krum with a solid lead to the snitch.

"Diggory is going after the other snitch!" Lee yelled. "Both Durmstrang seekers are on the other side of the pitch. And just 20 second left. Fly Diggory! Fly!"

A giant roar echoed from the stadium and a few seconds later Madame Hooch's whistle could be heard announcing the end of the game. Cedric had caught the snitch just seconds before the game would have ended. The score ending at 210 to 150 in favor of Hogwarts. Even with the whistle blown the other three seekers continued after the other snitch.

It was a neck to neck battle with Harry being crowded in the middle of the two Durmstrang seekers. The crowd continued to cheer as the seekers swept past them in the stands. Just as they reached the other end of the pitch the snitch shot upward. Krum was the first to react, Harry close behind but it was too late. Krum's reaction time gave him just enough speed to reach out and catch the snitch securely in his hand. The crowd cheered once more.

In the middle of the pitch the rest of the Gryffindor team had surrounded Diggory who was holding up the winning snitch. Fred and George has started a rendition of the Hogwarts school song which the rest of the team and most of the crowd in the stands had joined in on. Angelina broke away from the celebration to shake Krum's snitch free hand.

"It vas a good match." Krum said. "I had lots of fun. You good captain. Perhaps before we leave we do a rematch."

"Just let us know when." Angelina said before rejoining the celebrations. As Angelina rejoined, Fred and George slipped out. They had noticed Harry had not joined in on the celebration and had landed by the posts, staring at his broom.

"Cheer up Harry." Fred said as they approached. "We won! It doesn't matter if Krum got the snitch."

"Two against one isn't exactly fair either." George said. "I bet you would would dominate against Krum in a regular game." But Harry wasn't listening, he was just staring at his broom.

"Harry?" Fred said. Harry looked up at the twins, smiling.

"I know how I'm going to get past my dragon." Harry said confidently. "I'm going to fly past it." George frowned in thought but Fred was smiling.

"Risky..." Fred answered, "but it just might work. How are you going to get your broom?"

"By summoning it." Harry said less confidently.

"We'll start working on it tonight." Fred reassured Harry. "You're probably really close to figuring it out."

"Thanks Fred." Harry said before turning to join the celebrations.

"You set this whole thing up so that Harry would figure that out, didn't you?" George said putting his arm around Fred as they watched the celebrations.

"What can I say, I'm a genius." Fred smirked.

"Well, genius," George said. "How are you getting past your dragon?" Fred's confidence deflated and he sighed.

"No idea."

A/N: So just a little look inside of this chapter… When this chapter was written there was a very good reason why Fred didn't know how he was going to get past his dragon and that was because _I_ didn't know how he was going to get past his dragon… But after some long brainstorming sessions with my wonderful sister I was able to come up with a very satisfying way that I think speaks true to Fred and the twins in general. Next chapter… the long awaited First Task.


	6. Chapter 6: The First Task

A/N: As promised the First Task... I hope you enjoy. A lot of thought went into this... probably too much.

 **Chapter 6: The First Task**

"I don't get it! What am I doing wrong!" Harry was frustrated. It was his tenth attempt to summon a pillow across the room but the pillow merely sat there like a stubborn mule. Fred was getting frustrated with it as well. Harry's wand movement was perfect, his pronunciation was flawless but other than getting the pillow to flip over once, which Fred was pretty positive was Ron trying to give his friend a little encouragement, Harry was not able to get the pillow to move. Understanding charms the way Fred did, he knew that it was something mental. The caster had to concentrate on the object and really want it to come to them.

Fred looked over at his twin who was quickly scribbling his charms essay which was due later that day; Fred hadn't even done his. Hermione was once again demonstrating the summoning charm, Harry looking annoyed at how easy she made it look.

"What makes you think showing it to him again is going to change anything?" Ron asked next to her giving Harry a sympathetic look. "I say we go to lunch. Perhaps on a full stomach you'll do better Harry."

"You guys go on." Harry said looking dejected. "I'm not hungry." Hermione and Ron gave each other worried glances.

"We'll pick something up for you." Hermione said before the two left the classroom. Harry went back to staring down the pillows.

"George." Fred said. "Why don't you pick something up for lunch as well? I'm going to stay and work with Harry for a little bit."

"Good Luck!" George said packing up his stuff. "See you at charms."

Fred walked up to Harry and summoned the pillow. Harry looked excited for a moment until the pillow came to Fred instead, who he had not noticed was standing next to him.

"You know you're not doing anything wrong right." Fred said handing the pillow to Harry.

"Then why isn't it working!" Harry said throwing the pillow across the room so he could try summoning it again.

"That's not what I meant Harry." Fred said probably looking more serious then he has ever before. Harry looked at him confused. Fred motioned to the desks on the side of the classroom and the two of them sat down.

"I don't know how Ron was able to do it, but one time when mom had sent him to his room with no desert, he summoned all of the cookies to his room." Fred started. "Summoning spells are usually some of the easiest magic for witches and wizards because we've been doing it our entire life. If a kid wants something enough their magic will summon the thing in question. When we were kids my mum had to put anti-summoning charms on everything especially the cookie jar. The only reason they don't teach it before forth year is because it takes a lot of control to do so willingly."

"So why do I have so much trouble with it?" Harry asked.

"Well, when you were younger, before you came to Hogwarts, do you remember summoning anything?" Fred asked trying to keep the conversation casual. Harry stiffened next to Fred remembering the last time his accidental magic got him something he wanted.

"Yeah, I suppose." Harry said noncommittal. Fred remained silent but looked at Harry waiting for him to continue. Harry sighed in submission. "I was six. Dudley took my sandwich. I was hungry." Harry shrugged as if that was the end of the story but Fred knew that it wasn't. Fred was pretty sure that Harry's version of 'hungry' was a lot different than Ron's version of 'hungry'.

"I imagine your aunt and uncle weren't particularly happy with you after that." Fred coaxed.

"They sent me to my room." Harry shrugged as if it was no big deal but he continued to look anywhere but Fred.

"You mean the cupboard under the stairs." Fred said. Harry stiffening once more was all the confirmation Fred needed. "When George and I helped you escape your relatives a couple years ago I remember the bars and all the locks on your bedroom door. I was also the one who went downstairs to get your trunk from that cupboard. I saw the sign that said 'Harry's room'." Harry remained silent but he was eyeing the door as if looking for a reason to flee. "Harry, I don't know why you would defend them…"

"Have you ever heard me defend them?" Harry snapped angrily. "I begged Dumbledore not to send me back to them after my first year. But I have to go back every year because of some stupid blood ward. If I never saw any of them again I would be perfectly happy. I don't need them. I've been taking care of myself my entire life."

"I imagine taking care of yourself meant not doing magic." Fred said not wanting to get to far off topic. Fred knew now that he was right about Harry's mental block. The way Harry snapped so easily meant those emotions were very close to the surface even if Harry didn't know it.

"The Dursley's don't like magic." Harry stated. "Ron didn't get punished for taking those cookies?"

"Sure," Fred said. "He got punished for _eating_ the cookies, not for summoning them. Accidental magic isn't voluntary for the most part. I don't imagine you actually tried to blow up your aunt the summer before last even if it did sound like she deserved it."

"What does this have to do with summoning charms?" Harry asked impatiently, hoping to get the topic off of his relatives.

"Summoning charms are pretty much instinctual to most witches and wizards." Fred tried to explain. "For most of your life your magic has _instinctually_ protected you by suppressing that magic. You have to get past that instinct."

"And how do I do that?" Harry said looking defeated. Honestly Fred had no idea. Harry's instincts were strong, which will serve him well in the future.

"You're in charge of your magic Harry." Fred said. "Part of becoming a wizard is learning how to control it. The first step is to acknowledge what you're doing and why. After that… I'm not sure." Harry got up and positioned himself on the opposite side of the classroom of the pillows. Fred just watched patiently as Harry tried to work through whatever was in his head at the moment. After a long minute, a look of determination crossed the fourth years face.

"Accio!" Harry said firmly. The stack of pillows across the room pummeled into Harry. Fred laughed crossing the room, picking up Harry's broken glasses. Harry was laughing as well, more from relief than joy. Fred extended his hand helping Harry up from the pile of pillows.

"Did you mean to summon all of them?" Fred asked fixing Harry's glasses and handing them back to him.

"No." Harry said still chuckling. "I guess I just really, really wanted it to work."

"Well, you showed those pillows." Fred said ruffling Harry's hair. "We'll work on it." And work on it they did for the next twenty minutes but it seemed that once Harry's block had been taken down, nothing was stopping him now. Other than a mis-happened pillow hitting Fred in the face which Fred wasn't all sure was accidental, Harry had no other problems with the summoning charm. He even summoned all the pillows at once and placed them in the receptacle where they belonged.

"Thanks Fred." Harry said sincerely as they left the classroom.

"I told you I would help." Fred said wrapping a friendly arm around the boy. "That dragon won't know what hit him on Tuesday."

"You do have a plan for Tuesday, right?" Harry asked looking worriedly at Fred.

"Of course I do." Fred said with more confidence than what he was feeling. "I got to get to charms. Tonight, we'll go down to the quidditch pitch and you can summon your Firebolt from your room. George and I can help you practice your dives and dodges."

"Sounds like a plan." Harry said smiling as Fred walked off. "Thanks again Fred!" If Harry noticed that Fred did not walk toward the charms corridor he made no comment.

And Fred didn't go to charms. Now that he was sure that Harry would survive the first task the pit in his stomach grew. He still had no idea how to get past his own dragon and he was running out of time.

Fred went to the WWW classroom. A number of cauldrons stewing with potions were in the corner. A half-finished extendable ear was sitting on the desk Fred had been working at yesterday. Sitting at the desk, Fred conjured a bird cage with a small finch inside. He had taken Ollivander's words to heart and was seeing if there was any changes in his spell work. The only way Fred knew how to monitor power was to see how long a conjuration lasted. So far Fred had not noticed any changes.

Fred tried to work on the extendable ears in front of him but he kept losing concentration so he gave up. Instead Fred went to his 'go to' when he was stressed. A wizard set was in the far corner. Instead of playing, Fred went about disenchanting all the pieces and started crafting them once again. The task required just enough concentration that he couldn't think too much about anything else but he had done the enchantments so many times that it wasn't a challenge.

"How did it go with Harry?" George asked. Fred wasn't startled by George, having known the moment he entered their sanctuary.

"That boy is better at summoning spells then I am." Fred said placing the white queen back on the board. "I said we would help him at the quidditch pitch tonight."

"I told Flitwick that you were practicing spells for the task." George said taking a seat opposite Fred, picking up a black rook Fred had yet to re-enchant. Fred made no comment. "He says he expects a full report on his desk by the end of next week of all the spells you use in the task and why you picked them."

"Great. I'll get right on that." Fred said flicking a finger at the white king making it fall over. Fred sighed and leaned back into his chair staring at his twin opposite him. George waited patiently for Fred to speak again. "I have no idea what I'm going to do about my dragon." George laughed.

"I don't see how this is funny George." Fred said confused.

"You have been spouting to Harry for two weeks that he needs to stick to his strengths." George said getting his laughing under control. He got up from his chair. "Perhaps you should take your own advice." George handed him the black rook before leaving the table. "I'll take care of Harry. You work on not getting killed on Tuesday." Then he left the room leaving Fred looking thoughtfully down at the black rook in his hand.

* * *

The morning of the first task George watched as Fred and Lee entertained some first years at the Gryffindor table. They were throwing playful spells at each other that were not much more than sparks in a fake duel. The first years were entranced with the show as they were all still very new to seeing magic like this even though by the end of the year they would be able to preform the same spells. Fred was always good at putting on a show.

George's attention was taken away from the scene when, for the second time that morning, the Great Hall irrupted into claps and cheers. Harry had just entered the hall with Ron and Hermione in tow. Unlike Fred, who had jumped on the Gryffindor table and taken a few bows, Harry shuffled shyly to the middle of the table and sat down among his year mates hiding from the attention. George picked up his potions book and went to join him.

"You should eat something Harry." Hermione was saying, handing Harry some buttered toast. Harry took it and began nibbling on it.

"Nervous?" George asked as he sat down next to Harry. "Got a case of the dragons flapping in your belly?" Harry grimaced and put the toast down. Hermione glared at George.

"Did you want something George?" Ron asked scowling as well.

"Touchy, are we?" George said putting his hands up in surrender. "Just wanted to loosen the tension. You could almost cut it with a dragon's claw." Hermione and Ron continued to glare.

"Seriously though," George said turning his attention back to Harry, "you have nothing to be nervous about Harry. You have a really good plan and we have practiced as much as possible. This is nothing more than another quidditch match. You always get nervous before a match but once you get in the air you'll be fine."

"Right, cause quidditch players can usually breath fire and bite me in half." Harry said sarcastically.

"You've met Angelina and Alicia, right?" George asked deadpanned. Harry chuckled and picked up his toast again. "I don't know about you but I am not looking forward to having Angelina as captain next year. That girl can breathe fire if she wants to."

"Thanks for trying George." Harry sighed. "But I'm not like Fred. I don't get how he can be so cool about all this." Harry and George watched as Fred took shelter behind a laughing first year from Lee's assault of sparks.

"Don't let the act fool you." George said getting up from the table. "Fred is a huge ball of nerves right now. He's just goofing off to keep himself from focusing on it." George grabbed a full plate of sausage and placed it in front of Harry. "Well, I have double potions this morning so I best not be late. I wonder if it's a coincidence that we're doing burning salves today?" Ron threw a muffin at George as he walked away, Hermione still glared but Harry stabbed one of the sausages and pointedly took a bite. George smiled, task complete.

On his way to potions George seriously thought about skivvying off. He had just finished a batch of Puking Pasties and wouldn't mind seeing them in action even if he was the victim of the prank. Instead he could be watching Fred practice his plan over and over like he had during the past few days, pointing out any flaw, or throwing in some surprise scenario that Fred would have to react to.

But George knew Fred better than anyone else, including himself. Fred would want to be alone, manically going through his plan. George's own nerves and worry would just distract Fred from the task at hand and he would probably start goofing off like he had at breakfast. Harry was right on one thing this morning. He was not like Fred, or more specifically, the task ahead of them was not alike. The end goal was the same, but whereas Harry's plan was built around instinct and improvisation, Fred's plan needed to go off with out a hitch, each spell working as it should and each action taken by Fred and the dragon in sequence.

George robotically set up his potions set as the rest of the sixth-year students entered the potions classroom. Eventually Cedric set up next to him, as usual in this class, as no other sixth-year Hufflepuff or Gryffindor dared take the class past OWLS.

"So, is Fred nervous about today?" Cedric ask George opening a book in between their cauldrons to the potion they were supposed to be brewing today, Skele-Gro.

"Honestly, I think I'm more nervous than he is." George said lighting his cauldron.

"You should all have read the chapter on this potion before class." Snape strode into the room suddenly and exactly on time. Some of the students who came in a little late quickly went to light their cauldrons. Snape expected you to be ready to start brewing as soon as class started. No extra time was given to brew a potion if someone fell behind. "Take extra time to chop your roots evenly or your potion is likely to come out lumpy. Though this does not affect the effects of the potion, points will be taken off. If you have any questions about a step, I expect you to ask."

"Mr. Weasley!" Snape turned toward George and Cedric. "If I so much as see an ingredient at your work station that is not in this potion I will give you a zero. The hellebore in this potion is extremely volatile and toxic if not prepared properly." George nodded.

Snape was right to give the warning. George was not known to follow the directions on every potion. He would add ingredients or prepare them differently which would sometime cause explosions, toxic bubbles, cauldron collapse, or on one amusing occasion, an escaped mass of sludge that seemed to have a mind of its own and would grow when set on fire. On the other hand, George's experiments also surprised even Snape sometimes when it would improve efficiency, replace expensive ingredients, or make a completely different potion not known before. Their usefulness varied from hair growing in strange places to an antidote that negated the effects of most poisons such as snake venom, love potions, and even veritaserum (Snape was still experimenting with it).

George took Snape's warning and followed each step as the book set, although he was tempted to add a little more knotgrass to shorten the time it took to regrow the bones, but that would also require adding more hellebore which, as Snape said, was volatile.

As George finished adding the exact amount of knotgrass the recipe called for, his thoughts returned to Fred, or more specifically, the thing that Fred has been thinking about nonstop for the past few weeks… the future. George tried not to think about it too much. Call him cowardly, but George was sure that his boggart right now would be Fred telling him everything about the future.

George could always tell when Fred was thinking about it. A shadow would fall over him, and a seriousness that no sixteen-year-old should have formed lines on his face. But the future wasn't what worried George the most, as scary as it seemed. What worried George the most was that Fred had taken it upon himself to change it. Already, George could see the changes in his twin. Where once, Fred would play a game of quidditch with his friends just because he needed a day to relax; now he had ulterior motives to help Harry figure out how to get past a dragon. Though George had pestered Fred about planning for his own dragon, George half expected Fred to go into that arena today and not have a plan other than to prank the dragon… somehow. But now Fred was, no doubt, going through each step of his plan repeatedly, relying too much on it in George's opinion. No room for failure.

What happens when something didn't go to plan? And George wasn't thinking about the dragon… What happens if someone got hurt that wasn't supposed to? Something that didn't happen before because Fred changed something? There was no doubt going to be difficult decision in the future if a war was coming; sacrifices that had to made. George was worried that these decisions would destroy his twin.

* * *

Later that afternoon as Fred and Harry entered the tent housing the champions Fred couldn't help but wonder once again what he had gotten himself into. Since he had no classes this morning he spent all day in the WWW sanctuary practicing his plan. He had it down to an art… in the classroom… but now that he was facing the actual prospect of a dragon he felt as if his plan was woefully unprepared.

In the tent, Fleur was sitting in a corner on a wooden stool. She was pale and clammy looking just like Fred felt. He hoped he wasn't showing his nerves as much as her. Krum looked even surlier than usual, almost as if Rita Skeeter had asked for another interview. Bagman bounced up from his chair greeting Harry, once again ignoring Fred as if he weren't there. Fred found it difficult not to compare him to a buzzing bee on his favorite flower, especially with that horrid Wasp uniform he was wearing.

"Well, now we're all here, time to fill you in!" Bagman said brightly. "When…"

Fred tuned him out. He knew the task at hand, had been thinking about it ever since he put his name in the goblet. After a few minutes of talking Bagman exited the tent. The tent filled with silence, each champion thinking about the task at hand. Harry looked at Fred from across the tent. Fred tried to smile reassuringly back, not sure if he had succeeded. It seemed only a few minutes had passed before the crowds from the school could be heard outside the tent and Bagman had returned.

"Ladies first." He said, offering the purple silk bag to Fleur. She drew out the Green Welsh. Fred found it only a little surprising to see no shock on either Fleur or Krum's faces. They obviously knew what the task was as well. Funny how Fred only thought about telling them now, especially considering his protectiveness toward Fleur earlier in the month. Fred shrugged it off, he had a lot on his mind these last few weeks.

Krum chose next, pulling out the Chinese Fireball. Fred breathed out a sigh of relief, that was the one breed that could have screwed up his plan. He was glad that some butterfly effect didn't happen and hoped that he would get the same breed as Cedric. Yes, that meant that Harry would have to fight the Hungarian Horntail again but he had done it before… sort of.

Fred's turn came next and, sure enough, he pulled out the Swedish Short-Snout leaving the Horntail to Harry. Bagman was talking again… Fred wasn't listening until he heard his name.

"Mr. Weasley, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now… Harry… could I have a quick word? Outside?" Fred narrowed his eyes at Bagman.

"Er… sure." Harry said leaving the tent with Bagman.

"You're very protective of him, aren't you?" Fleur asked in her French accent (A/N: which I can't write well) "Why?"

"He's family." Fred shrugged going to the other end of the tent where he would enter the arena. "I may have entered this tournament for the prize money but Harry didn't. I'm going to make sure he makes it through this thing in one piece."

"So, you believe him when he says that he didn't put his name in the goblet?" Fleur said. Their conversation had attracted the attention of Krum as well.

"Harry is a magnet when it comes to trouble." Fred answered. "And just so you are aware, the kind of trouble that follows Harry is never good. Just keep your eyes open." The whistle blew and Fred left the tent as he was instructed.

Fred entered the arena to hundreds of anticipating faces. Most spectators, having been on the receiving end of one of the twins' jokes, could not wait to see how he planned to trick his dragon. The Swedish short-snout was eyeing him wearily, keeping a protective shield around her nest in the middle of the arena. Her silvery blue scales were beautiful and Fred spent just a few seconds to capture this moment. His heart was pounding with adrenaline; his grip firm (and slightly sweaty) around his wand. Fred took one deep breath looking eye to eye with the dragon and then swallowed the lump in his throat. She gave a tremendous, threatening roar breaking the moment. The stands went silent in tension and Fred went to work.

Fred hid behind one of the larger boulders. He recalled Swedish short-snouts had extremely hot fire breath but due to the heat they only had one good burst of flame every few minutes. The key would be to get the dragon to use that burst and then get it away from the nest so Fred could grab the egg. Last time Cedric was able to transfigure a rock into a dog to distract the dragon which worked for a short time but ended in Cedric getting a nasty burn from the Short snout's blue flames. Transfiguration didn't come naturally to Fred like charms and a dog was a little anticlimactic.

The first charm Fred used was to summon as many hand-sized rocks as he could to his hiding spot. The cave like arena had plenty to spare. Fred set eight of the largest to the side, enchanting them each with the charms he practiced to perfection over the weekend. Each glowed blue, as he expected, before turning back to pewter grey, only a slight blue aura around each rock distinguishing them from the others. One of these eight he placed securely into his right pocket for easy access.

The smaller stones left at Fred's feet were all enchanted next with spells he knew well enough to do in his sleep. They glowed red and felt warm to the touch. The whole process took Fred less than five minutes but the crowd was starting to grow restless. Fred could even hear a few jeers, probably from Slytherins, about how 'Gryffindor bravery' meant hiding behind rocks.

Meanwhile, Bagman was doing an excellent job of commentating, spouting fact about the dragons the four champions were going to face and reminding everyone of the task before them. "Anytime now Mr. Weasley is sure to surprise us all with his ingenuity and skill." Bagman announced. Fred wondered how much money the wizard had on this little tournament and if he was really rooting for Fred or not. Probably not…

Fred summoned one last rock, about the size of his head, and cast an unbreakable charm on the rock before connecting it to all the other small, glowing red stones at his feet. He then stepped out from behind the boulder he had been hiding behind.

"Oye! Firebreath!" Fred threw the unbreakable rock at the dragon with his magic, hitting the dragon in the nose before guiding the rock to the dragon's feet, careful to keep it a few feet away from the nest. "Want to play fetch?" Fred asked the dragon. The dragon just hunched over her nest more, protecting it from any more flying projectiles. Fred threw the larger blue-enchanted rocks, followed by the red glowing stones around the arena being sure to place them evenly surrounding the dragon. For the dragon's part, she looked rather bored. Fred was careful not to get the flying rocks too close to her. When Fred seemed to be out of rocks she gave him a contempt look, huffing out a puff of smoke.

"I'm not sure she is going to fall for that Mr. Weasley." Bagman announced awkwardly as if embarrassed for Fred's lack of imagination. "Perhaps a different strategy." Fred ignored him and cast Sonorus on himself.

 **"I don't think anyone taught this dragon how to fetch _George_."** Fred amplified for the stands to hear, starting his own commentary. There was a ripple of surprise in the crowded stadium.

 **"I think your right Fred."** At the word 'George', an illusion of said twin appeared on the other side of the dragon. At 'George's' voice the dragon whipped around, surprised at the sudden appearance of another threat. Fred took the opportunity to slip back behind the boulder, dropping the remaining blue-enchanted rock in his pocket and activating it. When the dragon turned back around to look at the original threat an illusion of 'Fred' stood where the real one once stood. **"Perhaps she's better at playing catch?"** 'George' taunted.

 **"Do you think she knows Itchy Witch?"** The illusion of Fred asked. Itchy Witch was a beloved wizarding nursery rhyme used to teach young wizard children about potions. Growing up, Fred had numerous memories of him and his sibling throwing a quaffle to each other, where the person who caught the ball had to recite the next portion of the nursery rhyme. If they got it wrong or didn't catch the ball the potion would 'blow up' and they would have to start again.

 **"You know that game isn't fun without _more people_ Fred."** 'George' said. At the phrase 'more people' six identical Fred/George illusions popped into existence around the arena surrounding the dragon. **"That's better."** 'George' said. Altogether, the eight illusions started chanting the nursery rhyme. Some people in the stadium who were familiar with the rhyme joined in.

 **"There once was a witch with an itch!**

 **As much as she try it just wouldn't die!**

 **A potion she'll brew, full of goo**

 **To take the itch without a glitch."**

Behind the boulder Fred had already started prepping for the next part of his plan. He canceled the Sonorus charm and disillusioned himself, also casting a silencing spell at his shoes to muffle the crunch on the gravel floor. He glanced around the boulder to see how the dragon was reacting to his illusions. She was turning her head left and right trying to determine who was the worst threat but so far none of the illusions had done anything but chant the nursery rhyme. Fred leaned back behind the boulder, hidden once again, knowing that the dragon would soon not be so docile.

 **" _One!_ Set the fire, watch it burn!**

 **Let the water boil and churn!"**

At the word 'one' a glowing red stone came flying from an illusion on the dragon's right, exploding against her blue scales. She roared in agitation, her attention on the illusion that dare to harm her or her nest. The explosion wasn't more than an irritation for the dragon's scales but the sparks that flew from the impact made a spectacular show.

 **" _Two!_ Bat wings first, then the spleen!**

 **Stir it twice to make it green!"**

Another red stone sprang from a different illusion at the word 'two'. The dragon, attention still on the first stone-throwing-threat, was not expecting the impact coming from her left. Her head whipped around to the offending threat but she didn't focus on it for long. She eyed all eight threats around her, not sure which she should attack first or where the next attack would come from.

 **" _Three!_ Dandelions are in season!**

 **Cut the roots nice and even!**

The chant was drowned out by the roar of the dragon. A blast of blue flame shot from the dragon's mouth as she circled around hitting each illusion. Some of the more dramatic students in the stands screamed. Fred saw the flicker of a person at the entrance of the arena checking to see if the flame had reached him but Fred was still tucked away behind the protection of the boulder, which had grown warm from the fire. Fred was amazed Cedric hadn't been charred to death when he faced this dragon. The eight illusions did not even flicker, the flame going through them as they continued their chant.

 **" _Four!_ Add a lone thorn of rose!**

 **Mist will tickle on the nose!**

The dragon looked cornered, her flame having done nothing to the threats surrounding her and her nest. Another red stone exploded against her neck at the word 'four'. She spun to the illusion that threw it.

With the dragon's flame no longer an issue, Fred left his sanctuary behind the boulder and began moving toward the nest, invisible. His entire focus was on getting to the egg without the dragon noticing. He would only get one chance at this and could not afford to wait.

 **" _Five!_ Add a pinch of fresh dittany!**

 **Stir 'til of thick consistency!"**

The next exploding stone came from the 'Fred' illusion but the dragon was already moving toward the threat in her sight on the other side of the arena. The stone exploded against her tail. Fred was half way to the nest, approaching closest to the golden egg.

 **" _Six!_ Harvest moondew in the night!**

 **To make your potion come out right!**

The dragon bit at the illusion in front of her. Her bite went through the illusion and she stumbled slightly, not expecting no resistance. She must have stepped on the rock attached to the illusion because the Fred/George look-a-like flickered out, leaving only seven illusions to continue the chant.

With the dragon now away from the nest Fred moved in more quickly to grab the golden egg but he was not prepared for the explosion of the red stone that sprang toward the unbreakable rock which had been placed at the dragon's feet at the beginning. Fred was blasted with sparks and small pieces of sharp gravel. He was glad he thought to leave the enchanted rock that acted like a magnet to the red stones a few feet away from the nest.

 **" _Seven!_ Squeeze baneberry one at a time!"**

 **Smell the vapors pure and divine!**

The dragon roared once more, enraged at the attack on her nest. She charged at the original 'George', where the stone had come from at the word 'seven'. Fred was once again showered with gravel as the exploding stone hit the same spot as the last. He quickly picked up the golden egg and ran for it.

 **" _Eight!_ Add the leaves before it's too late!**

 **All that's left is to sit and wait!"**

The dragon snapped at the "George' illusion a couple time but 'George' remained untouched continuing his chant. Fred made a beeline to the entrance of the arena, golden egg securely under his arm. The dragon keepers were already coming into the arena to calm the dragon. The dragon gave up her attack on the illusion and went back to her nest to protect it from any more exploding stones.

 **" _Nine!_ A sprig of mint to calm the taste!**

 **Stew for hours for a thick paste!**

Fred summoned the original enchanted magnetic rock at the dragon's feet and canceled the enchantments. The seven remaining illusions canceled at the end of the rhyme and the only noise left was the cheering of the crowd

"Well I think that performance is going to be hard to beat! Well done Mr. Weasley." Bagman's words were nearly drawn out from the roar of the crowd.

"That was amazing!" Someone came up behind Fred putting an arm around him and shaking him slightly. "Never seen anything like it! I knew you would do well in this tournament… and mother was worried."

"Thanks Charlie." Fred said, a sense of relief flooding him now that the task was over. "I have to admit, I didn't think it would play out that well, but I guess luck is on our side sometimes."

"That wasn't luck, little brother." Charlie said watching his fellow dragon keepers stun the Short-Snout. "That was genius. I never knew you were so good at illusions."

"The illusions were the easy part." Fred admitted. "Trying to get them all to rhyme at the same time was tricky. Plus, this was all flash and bangs. The real talent has yet to be seen." Fred winked at Charlie.

Charlie stayed with Fred until the scores from the judges were read out. Fred didn't pay too much attention to the score but if his memory served correctly he would be in lead at the end of this task, rather significantly, considering he received a six from Karkaroff.

Fred watched off to the side with Charlie as the other champions faced their dragons. Fleur and Krum did not change up their routine from the first time Fred watched this task in the stands, but Fred was please to note that only three of the eggs were crushed this time around during Krums task instead of all five. How strange that something so small would change? Then came Harry's turn…

In all the time Fred spent in the past now, he had never had a sense of deja-vu before, but as he watch Harry fly against that dragon again it was like watching a memory unfold. Each weave, every dive, was the same as Fred remembered and it was just as spectacular the second time.

* * *

Please Review... It helps get the baneberry juices flowing...


End file.
